Friday, 28 May, 2004

The focus of these devotions is Walter Wink’s book “The Human Being” and a section dealing with the vision of the Son of the Man in Ezekiel.



To say that we humans are made in the image of God, male and female, means that we are somehow “like” God in our mundane existence. But we are not yet fully human. For now, we are only promissory notes, hints, intimations. But we are able to become more human because the Human One has placed the divine spirit within us (Ezekiel 37:5, 14), which will remove our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh (36:26).



We are able to become more human as the Holy Spirit leads us more fully into our humanity. And yet, we must always remember that only as humans do we become the makers of war, the abusers of prisoners, those who threaten to annihilate all things, etc. But that capability within our humanity is not the “fully human” that is being described by Wink. To be fully human as being fully within the image of God is to imagine ourselves being creative, loving, merciful, and peacemakers. Look around and there are hints of humanity’s spirit of wholeness within the lives of people who happen into our lives. Look around again, and there is much evidence of humanity’s inability to live within that image of God. It is as though we fear where our humanity may take us and therefore we run and try to play the part of God. But isn’t it wonderful to see that our God, becomes human in order to reveal all things about being God. Within this mass of flesh and bones and blood is the blessed home of life that God creative voice calls “Good.”



Connection: Our frailty is a gift in which our God is revealed. Do not be afraid to be vulnerable even in the midst of fear. That is a human thing to do…just as it is utterly human, in its fullest sense, to give up our lives for the sake of another.



Take us and make us what we are in your sight, O God. Light a fire of new life within us so that we may approach each day as though your breath fills up our lives and takes us more deeply into our humanity and thus into your blessed image. Amen.