John 17:1-11

Easter 7 – Year A

John 17:1-11

Here we find such a spinning of relationships that the face of G*D, Jesus, and ourselves become indistinguishable. Glory streams from afar and from within. Hours are glorified, as are people. Before creation and this present are as glorified as a future.

It is this blurring of cause and effect, foreground and background, which brings us to a sense of oneness that is protection at its deepest – an identity so deeply grounded and so elevated that there becomes an eternal aspect to each moment.

Assurance ceases to be a word – it is experienced. Assurance - we are not alone. Assurance - we are one, uno, ein, or any other similar understanding.

Everything is given and everything is received. The yins and yangs of life are actively balanced.

= = = = = = =

On this day the voting at General Conference begins in earnest. There has been some excellent work done in the legislative committees. For example, proposing to remove the dreaded words "homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching" from our Book of Discipline. We have come to similar positions in the past only to have them over-ruled in the plenary.

In conversation we can see how interconnected everything is and then we get to debate where code words and political blocks come into play. In losing this spinning interrelationship when "all means all", we divide ourselves into those privileged with grace and those undeserving of it.

As dense as this passage is, it is representative of the poetry of life.