Unfortunately, once again this blog site has out smarted me and did not let me save all that was written yesterday. Therefore, I am resending Moltmann's stuff and adding a comment that obviously didn't make it yesterday. Again, we jump to a new section of "The Source of Life" by Jurgen Moltmann called "New spirituality: life against death. Who is God's image? God is known in the whole and entire, mutually related, and hence also bodily and sensory community of men and women, parents and children, and in other social relationships. It is not just the individual who is to correspond to God and reflects his vitality and beauty, it is the whole human community. It is not only the direct experience of the self (if there is such a thing) which is the place where we encounter the living God; it is rather the social experience of the 'Thou' and the responding 'I'. Our God creates community. We are not created as just one - single "I". In the storytelling of Genesis it is humanity as male and female. I read that as a sign of the essence of community. This is who we multiply and create the image of God in the world. This male and female creation is not meant to be an exclusion. Rather, I would submit that it is to teach us that all things within God's Reign rise up out of community. Therefore our spirituality is bound up in all that hold us together. We are on an adventure. To be a lone soul within God's Reign is impossible. We live and breathe as a people. When we are together from the fewest of us to the great multitudes, we enable ourselves to catch the vision of whose we are and who we are to become. It is necessary to have this very physical, very real collection of people. Here we have to deal with others and -because of that- deal with ourselves. Our self-centered wonder as to who we will become must be abandoned for the wonder of who we become within relation to others. Connection: What are you able to see -of yourselves and God's Reign- when you are involved with others? Again, Gracious God, lead us into the way of you blessed community. Amen. |
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