From William C. Placher’s “Narratives of a Vulnerable God”
Placher makes the point that he has been writing about God’s vulnerability, not God’s suffering.
It seemed important to resist the claim that suffering is good… The freedom to love is good, and that freedom risks suffering and, in a sinful world full of violence and injustice, will always encounter it sooner or later. Love does not regret the price it pays for making itself vulnerable, but to speak of paying a price is in itself to acknowledge that the suffering itself is an evil. Vulnerability, on the other hand, is a perfection of loving freedom.
That openness that allows us to give of ourselves is a gift that is given freely because we are connect…because we love. Love helps us bridge the gap between one another. “Love reunited the separated” one author writes. To “bridge” and to “reunite” takes place within an action of vulnerability. God bridges the gap between God and humanity in the life, death, & resurrection of Jesus. We bridge the gaps within our broken lives by loving…by risking harm and possibly paying a price for loving when loving seems so unless in a violent and broken world as ours. And yet, we are encouraged to love as we have been loved by God. Risk being vulnerable!
Connection: Step in and love. And if we need some help with the loving, we are encouraged to seek out another one of God’s beloved children to be of some encouragement. We are also told that the Holy Spirit will be our encouragement…the power to love today.
Send your Holy Spirit into this day as the power to move us beyond the limits of life and loving we have set for ourselves so that we may experience the life that is a part of your promised Reign. Healing Lord, as you once gave so lovingly to the world that we may be healed and made whole, give us this day the life of your love so that it will shine through us for all we meet. Amen.
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