ONE

God continues to stretch me, and to stretch my mind and my concept of Him and of humanity. Words like love, creation, community, and intimacy trouble me. Where I use to say OK, now I say why. We use these words so lightly, like idle chatter. They have become so cheap. But words are powerful. They have meaning and purpose. It is the only way that we have to describe reality. It is the only way to communicate the deeper things. These words in particular are loaded with meaning and we need to rediscover them.

God has created us for community. Not just community but perfect community. Community with Him, with creation and with others. So what is community? What is it really? It has become the new church buzz word, the latest strategy and format for programming the christian life. But, what is it?

I know that the basis of life is love. Not just love but unconditional love. It is the thread that ties all of existence together. God is this love and He is the fabric of life. Unconditional love is difficult for us to understand because we put condition on everything. Love, without condition is not a means to an end but the beginning and ending of all things. It is at the heart of God's intent. It is the nature of God and written out for the world to see in the life and death of Jesus. It is God's desire for our relationships as seen in Jesus' admonition to "love each other as I have loved you" It is God's desire for all relationships. It is community as God sees it.

Community is the expression of this love. It is the expression of this love without condition. Not a means to an end but the beginning and the end. Not, if you do this I will do that. But, simply this is it, here it is, rest in it. Not, if you convert to my religion or denomination I will love you, not if you admit that I am right I will love you. It is simply I love you, period. It is intimacy, not identical to but not unlike the marriage relationship. "The two shall become one." Oneness. Community is oneness. Extending out from self to God, to family, to friends, to church and to the whole world. "Love your neighbor as your self." Oneness, so that even though individual still one.

God, Help me to love without condition. Help me to see all people, your people, as one with me. Help me to see and feel my intimacy with all of creation. Help me to see that their needs are my needs so that feeding the hungry, helping the sick, caring for the abandoned, freeing the enslaved and telling the world your good news becomes self preservation.