CONNECTIONS

“God doesn’t play dice.” — Albert Einstein

During this New Year many of us will reflect on how we can become a better person.  We will think on eating less or perhaps exercising more.  We will strive to be a better individual. I would like us to think on another way to focus our efforts: look at the people in your life you have become disconnected from and try to reconnect.  Much of the success of Facebook is due to using the internet to connect with people and interests that are a part of our lives.  If God used Facebook we would constantly be getting “friend” requests!  The focus of God has always been to get us to live our lives connected with all of creation - connected to family and friends, connected to our church and the diocese, connected to the world and those suffering in it.  In order to live a purposeful life one must be connected to the whole of creation!  That is when we experience the peace, love and joy that Jesus and later Paul describes.

We all start out connected, quite literally, to our mother; we then spend our whole lives trying to find separation and our “selves.”  We strive to find our meaning and purpose in life.  What makes me different and special?  What are my gifts and talents?  American culture emphasizes individuality above all else.  The American Dream is uniquely geared to the individual being the best they can be.  Sometimes, living our dreams comes at the expense of something or someone else.  However, it’s ironic that the journey of finding our “selves” inevitably leads to reconnecting with God and those people with whom we previously shared our lives.  In finding the self, we find God and others, because we were created with the intention of being individual parts of a greater whole.  Even God is connected with other aspects of being - God as the Trinity! 

Many of us spend our whole lives trying to be self-sufficient and secure, only to learn at some point that there is no such thing.  It’s an illusion.  Paul’s description of the “Body of Christ” (I Cor. 12) is so appropriate because from it we can glimpse the larger picture and understand just how we are all connected.

I heard recently that as many as 67% of college grads are now moving back in with their parents.  The tone of the report was very negative, but then I began to wonder if this was really such a bad thing.  A century ago, most people and their own families lived in community with their parents - either in the same house or very close by.  At the time of Jesus, the entire family lived in the same attached housing complex.  Even today, all around the world, families live with families and are connected with their communities; Americans are the exception.

When we see the tragedies of violence in our country, notice how the “broken” person is always “dis-connected” in some flawed way.  God created us to be connected.  When referencing the Gospels it becomes readily apparent that Jesus really didn’t care much about social norms, governments, laws, or who was right or wrong.  What he cared most about were relationships.  He reconnected people to God and to each other; his whole ministry can be summed up in that endeavor.  When the rabbis of his day tried to corner him by asking which of the 600 laws in the Torah was the most important, Jesus simply stated to love God and love one another; this was the most important thing above all else in the eyes of God.  He then added that on these fundamental laws (of the Creator) hang ALL the laws and ALL the prophets! 

Connections… Everything in the universe, the whole of God’s creation is connected.   The more I experience this life the more this truth becomes apparent.  Our strength lies in being connected with each other.  My hope is that we may all come to know this truth in our lifetimes.  God Bless You All and Have a Peaceful, Loving and Joyful New Year!

Your faithful servant,

Carmen