13 July 2006

The last two days of this week will end our journey with Joseph Sittler in "Gravity and Grace."

Christian theology says that a person's being, selfhood, sense of who he or she is, is constituted by relationships in such a way that if any one of them is damaged, the individual's being is damaged.
Think about the word being. We're all used to the word existence. I can talk about my own existence, and I can point to the particularity of may autobiographical record. There is such a thing as the particularity of my existence over against yours; each of us can say this of himself or herself: "I was born in a particular place; I grew up with specific parents, went to certain schools."
But when I talk to you of being, I can only talk to you out of my existence and fling words across to the strangeness of your existence, which is in many ways other than mine. But I can do that and be understood because we have something in common that transcends the particularity of our existence.

We are connected. We are these relational beings who are and will be connected. Yes, we each have our own story that is quite specific and unique, but then we are not isolated stories that exist separate from others. In some ways, I think that the Genesis story call the creation of humanity good because it is speaking about the essence of our humanity. We are good or complete or whole as we are in relationship and come to know the importance of relationship and how we are truly bound together. You may be more strange than I can ever imagine, and yet there are many ways in which we begin to see how alike we may be. Granted, it takes time to bridge that strangeness and yet it is by bridging that strangeness that relational beings, like us, begin to find out a bit more about ourselves as part of the human community. If all we will do with our lives is simply deal with life as we experience it and prevent ourselves from touching the broadness of our "being" what a life we miss. Then again, I don't think it is even possible to remove ourselves from the threads that interconnect us and help us to see the worth of others. Andy yet, I know there are people that seem to be just that separate and unable to bridge that strangeness.

Connection: Our varied stories are really quite the fuel for the making of a community or a family or a church. Yes, we each have our separate lives but then...we can, in our strangeness, find a sense of new life in something as ordinary as worship or conversation.

Spirit of the New Day, how fresh it is to experience your power that causes us to reach out beyond ourselves to touch and be touched by the life experiences of others. When that all begins to take place, we are given a wide picture of your love and your creative power. Thanks be to you. Amen.