This week: God as otherness. If you have any comments - adebelak@redeemerluth.com [mailto:adebelak@redeemerluth.com]I do not want this to be a picture of God 'out there' or 'beyond us'. God as otherness
is the God who is pulling us to be engage with the 'other.' The Spirit of God as
otherness does not move through life causing separation that makes some people
'us' and other people 'them' - quite the opposite. We are being pulled toward the
other to know what other means - to experience other as ones our God also includes
and blesses. God as otherness moves us beyond our clans - our families - our nations
- our well-developed lives. In the midst of that otherness we come to see a bit
more of the God who seems to be so beyond us. The God of beyond and out there -
is essential present when we look around and take part in a conversation with all
that is other. That is not a comfortable place to go. I like things that are like
me - people who have similar ideas and values. But then God as otherness puts the
other in my path. When that happens, I can say 'damn it' - and yet whenever I exclude
the other I am participating in the damning divisions God as otherness is calling
us to leave behind. It is vital to remember that there is always a way that is other
than the one I want to go.
O God of love and new life, lead on and pull us along the way of your Reign. Amen.
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