Friday, March 19, 2004

Friday, 19 March, 2004

We will continue to base the devotions on “God for a Secular Culture” by Jurgen Moltmann.



This week we will look at how we apply a principle like ‘unity in division and division in unity’ to the knowing of other people, other things, and the Wholly Other God.

It is only when human beings see themselves simply as human beings, no longer as gods, that they are in a position to perceive the wholly other nature of God. It is only when we cease to be unhappy supermen and pathetic mini-gods and permit ourselves to become human beings through and through again that we let God be God, as Luther said.



There is a bit of terror in seeing ourselves as human beings…and just that. We are vulnerable, finite, and there will always be something more than me. My word will never be the last word…nor has it been the first. When a parent or friend dies, there is the word that says to us that we may be next…we do not stay as we are forever. I look at myself in the mirror and there is not the same texture and shape to my body as I was ten year ago. When we are able to let ourselves be…as God created us…creatures/human beings, it may do something miraculous to how we welcome and live alongside those who are other than us…for they too are not gods…they are God’s beloved creatures also.



Connection: So when you are sitting on the porcelain throne today…wonder a bit about God…and wonder a bit about humanity…and wonder a bit about the place of us all.



Creating God you have masterfully shaped us into your people and given us so many gifts for life that we sometimes think that we can rule over others and even ourselves. Remind us of our place and the many ways we can be fully human and creative and shaped by your loving image without trying to be You. Amen.

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