Day 1:
God Chose Me
“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last…” (John 15:16)
Esther, Nora, come here! Phil-in-the book, come here! Dahgah-Ratty, Stop Dey!
Ms. Blackett, the baker, delighted us with this little ditty each time we walked over the bridge to her little bakery across the river. A translation from our Vincentian-English dialect would be something like:
Esther, Nora, you may come! Phil-in the book, you may come! Dahgah-Ratty, stay where you are— (you’re not invited!)
I wasn’t sure who most of the characters were in Ms. Blackett’s little poem—were Esther and Nora two different people? Or was it Esther-Nora, a most proper little English girl? And who was Phil-in the book? So ran my childhood imagination as I giggled along with my sisters at Ms. Blackett’s silly rhyme.
Dahgah-Ratty was the one character for whom I needed no explanation. Every Vincentian (person from St. Vincent) child (and every adult too) knew Dahgah-Ratty quite well. I wish I could draw him for you as my phonetic rendition of his name does not adequately convey the combination of dog-rat that is this well-known Vincentian character.
Okay, so that was a giveaway—Dahgah-Ratty is obviously not a “real” character. And yet, for Vincentians, Dahgah-Ratty captures in language and symbolism a reality that resonates with each of us: he embodies everything that has to do with being rejected, excluded, bypassed, overlooked. Dahgah-Ratty is not cool enough, beautiful enough, strong enough, popular enough. Dahgah-Ratty is not picked for the team, chosen for the award, invited to the affair.
I’ve come across quite a few Dahgah-Rattys in Scripture. Funny thing is, not one of them was bypassed or overlooked. In fact, they were the ones chosen by God. He doesn’t choose with shallow or fickle human criteria.
Samuel the prophet discovered this when he was sent to Jesse’s house in Bethlehem to anoint a successor to King Saul. As Samuel inwardly oohed and ahhed over Eliab, the eldest, God broke in with a different set of measures—"Do not consider his appearance or his height…. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)
Eventually, it was the youngest, “the runt of the litter”, who was chosen—hauled in from tending sheep when all Samuel’s other options were exhausted. Much later, David's choir master, Asaph, recounts the story in Psalm 78:
[God] chose David His servant and took him from the sheep pens; from tending the sheep He brought him to be the shepherd of His people Jacob, of Israel His inheritance (Psalm 78:70-71).
Like David, we may have to spend some time training in the sheep pens of quiet, patient perseverance. We may feel bypassed and overlooked. But in God’s kingdom, we will never be a Dahgah-Ratty. We may not be chosen to lead a nation, but we are chosen and equipped for our special purpose—one that will come to fruition in God’s time, as we “commit [our] way to the Lord" and trust in Him.” (Psalm 37:5)
