14 July 2006

Our last day with Joseph Sittler in "Gravity and Grace."

What do we have that makes it possible to talk to one another? This is what we mean by being, human being, the essence of core of likeness that permits language and intelligibility, even if we have no language in common. For example, if I'm walking down a street in Bangalore, and a fat and pompous character struts out of a bank and slips on a banana peel, the observing Indian will laugh as loudly as I do. This response arises out of the depths of our being. All of life traverses a banana peel, and we all know it, whether in India, or East Asia, or Iceland, or Chicago. Christian theology affirms our connectedness.

Sometimes I wonder if this is much of what worship is to be - a space and time that helps to remind us of the connectedness that is our humanity. If we can be connected as humans, that would be a grand adventure. But the story would not stop there. If we were connected as humans - even through our many differences - there is the possibility that we would begin to realize what an important part we play in the unfolding of our creative power as sons and daughters of God. I am particularly thinking about the environment. To live in a healthy environment demands that there is such a sense of connectedness among us that we can serve as overseers - stewards - of the many gifts of our creation. For our common good it is absolutely necessary. Clean air is just as important to me as to someone I have yet to meet in some far away city. The same can be said of water. Our basic needs demand that we step back into a greater awareness of our connectedness so that no part of creation deteriorates so much that humanity is threatened anywhere. Christian theology must remember this connectedness as we consider our witness in our world.

Connection: Sometimes the best way to remind ourselves of our connectedness is to see it and live with it locally. Our connectedness is often hardest to comprehend when we can actually see, hear and touch those who are quite different. And yet it is so essential.

Make of All Things, though it is so easy to turn ourselves inward to our own concerns and our own little worlds that we think we have created, your Spirit is ever moving us out to realize how broad and wide is the mix of your people. When we are moved to such vision, we are also moved to a life that begins to take into consideration how it is that we are all to be connected. By your grace, we move beyond ourselves to others. Amen.