Sunday, January 25, 2009

FULLY?

Tonight I sit saddened and perplexed at the condition of our hearts. The Bible tells us that Jesus died so that we can be in a right relationship with our Creator, but what is that relationship supposed to look like? After a conversation with a close friend, I am suddenly struck that relationship with my Creator must include relationships with others. When we aren't being pursued by others, the pursuit of the Lords seems distant, why? The Bible says we can't survive on bread alone...hence the need for others in our life. My friend has been processing what it means to be fully known and fully loved. Someone might argue that those are inherently tied together, my friend believes that it is much easier to be fully loved than fully known. I agree, we also talked about how if we all knew each other fully, it might be a lot harder to love each other fully. Why would God make that hard to do, why should we ever feel a void when we know that we are fully loved and fully known by God? Because we are human and were created for relationships, and without them I don't necessarily think that we truly know God or love God fully. "What you do to the least of these, you do to me"(paraphrased verse from the Bible), if my pursuit of others isn't to fully know them and to fully love them, what does that say about my relationship with Jesus....to me it is says "Your shady". Shady in the regard that you aren't following what Jesus asks of you.
SIDENOTE: For those of you who don't share my faith please know that this is my attempt to figure out how it is really supposed to be, not how the church has created it to be, and to forwarn you, I will fail(daily) so don't see it as hypocritical but rather a damn good effort.
I guess what I am really saying is that it makes me sad that people walk around our great green earth and feel as though that they aren't fully known or fully loved by God, and the root of all of that is, that people have not pursued each other to know or love them fully. Now is the application, what relationships do I hold back getting to know someone, and what relationships do I not let others in? How do I change that? Ultimately I hope it leads to a better knowledge of how wide and deep my Creator knows me and loves me. I fear that it will take time, but I do feel that it hugely important.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

You bring up some very interesting points Ashley, and it brings back the sermon that I heard at Christmas Mass in Longemont just a few short weeks ago. The priest was discussing the readings, and incoporated the word "JOY" into the message and teachings that day. He said (and this is a paraphrase), that we had to have JOY in ourlives, and we had to live JOY. Each letter of JOY represents an idea, or part of live to live. The J stands for our love for Jesus, the O stands for our love of others, and the Y stands for our love of ourselves. He talked about how important all 3 were, and that you had to do all 3 to really feel loved, because if you don't practice loving yourself, and caring for yourself, how can you be able to truly care about Jesus and others. He was trying to get the point accross that all 3 spheres are intertwined and all have an impact on each other.
Anyway, I hope you keep learning and keep having these pondering discussions, because it helps you to keep growing. And sometimes, you stumble upon the answer that works for you and your beliefs. Take care, and enjoy Costa Rica this summer, your newest cousin in law-Michele