The Connection

A comedian once said, "I really like the saying, 'Before you judge someone, walk a mile in their shoes.'  Well, not only do I get to judge them, but I've got their shoes and a mile head start."




I wonder what thoughts were coursing through God's mind as the plan for the incarnation came into effect.  Throughout the centuries, time after time God's people continued the endless cycle of idolatry, sin, punishment, repentance and forgiveness, God continued to give second and third and fiftieth chances, but it never seemed to entirely take hold.  The connection between deity and human was so difficult because although humans could see the power of God in the heavens, on the mountains and even through the seas, it felt as if they were always saying, 'Well, God, it's easy for you because you can do anything.  You don't really know what it's like to suffer.  You don't know what it's like to feel doubt or pain or abandonment.  You don't really know what it's like because you haven't walked in our shoes.'


Which was the last straw that broke the camel's back?  Was it the grumblings of the slaves in the desert?  Was it the Israelites rejection of both judges and God to have a king like the other nations?  Was it those same kings who drew their people into revolting patterns of idolatry and sinfulness, doubting the living God for ones made of stone, metal and wood?


My guess is that it was not a last straw.  It was the first straw, or the first piece of wood, perhaps, from the Garden of Eden.  When the Deceiver placed the idea into the center of the mind of humanity, that God was unnecessary, or worse yet, greedy, the entire course of history needed to be emended. 


In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.

I would presume the greatest connection that we have is with the word that comes from our mouth.  What issues forth from our lips, even Jesus proclaims, is what comes from our hearts, and what comes from our hearts is as inseparable from us as the DNA from our cells.  Of course you can tell almost everything about a person from their words and what issues forth from God's mouth, the Word - is creation, life and light.  These three things are the central connection of the Trinity when God spoke His Word that took on flesh.  Literally, God's breath began to walk another mile in our shoes.  It was God who established that connection; It was God who made the first move.  It was God who responded to the cry of his people, and in that hearing, God established a connection that could not be broken.

When we speak to others, especially in the name of Christ, we remember that in our baptism, we have been drowned in the Word and it is no longer we who live, but the Word which lives in us.  How we speak can have immense implications on our connection to others. 

Ponder God's connection in Trinity and how it pierces your own idea of connection.