Tuesday, 15 July, 2003

The opening text will come from a book by Abraham Joshua Heschel (God in Search of Man - A Philosophy of Judaism). As you are able to see by the title, the language may be a bit dated and therefore, I will, when able, make the language inclusive.



(Humanity) does not live by insight alone; (humanity) is in need of a creed, of dogma, of expression, of a way of living. Insights are not a secure possession; they are vague and sporadic. They are like divine sparks, flashing up before us and becoming obscure again, and we fall back into darkness “almost as black as that in which we were before.” The problem is: How to communicate those rare moments of insight to all hours of our life? How to commit intuition to concepts, the ineffable to words, insight to rational understanding? How to convey our insights to others and to unite in fellowship of faith?



Being united in fellowship does not mean complete agreement. Uniting in fellowship gives us the opportunity to offer up our insights for other to hear and see. It is such a time as this that we begin to gather around and make sense of the grand picture. Within the community, we are given the opportunity to make insight something that can be shared for we look for language to make the sharing possible. From that insight…that spark…then there is the potential for life that is shaped by our coming together around a point of insight and new direction. In the life of the community, insights have a place to stay lit…to be held up for more to see…and to be compared and shaped by new insights.



Connection: It is good to have some kind of reference point through which we can filter or compare insights. Such a process helps us to be connected to others. We are people who claim to follow the God of a people…not of an individual. Whenever our insights can be lifted up with others we are given a blessed opportunity to see how they play in the context of God’s people.



Lord God, keep us connected to one another. It is so easy to be swept away on our own journey of personal insights and forget about how you fashion community. Keep us mindful of the importance of dialogue and conversation and sharing the gifts handed to us. Amen.