Living in Alignment
To know God is not about religious titles, grand gestures, or spiritual proclamations. It is about living with integrity, grounded in justice and compassion. Those who truly know God reflect this knowledge in their daily actions, treating others with dignity and fairness, and ensuring that no one is oppressed or exploited. The prophet Jeremiah's words remind us that knowing God is inseparable from doing what is right. A person who claims to know God but ignores the suffering of others, or turns a blind eye to injustice, is disconnected from the divine. The ones we call the "saints" are often those from whom we get our clearest picture of what it must be like to know God; their lives of prayer and meditation and good works have a transparent goodness that makes their appeal to the name and will of God convincing and compelling.
Living in alignment with God means seeing beyond personal gain and self-interest. It requires an active pursuit of what is just and good for all people, especially those who are marginalized or vulnerable. A person who knows God will be stirred to act, not out of obligation, but because their heart is oriented toward compassion and truth. In the end, knowing God is not just about belief, but about embodying the love, care, and justice that are central to the divine nature. To know God is to live in service to humanity and the greater good, every day.