Thursday, January 23, 2014

I woke up thinking about relationships this morning.  How people change and grow.  I've heard people say things before like, "A tiger can't change his stripes,"---and I suppose that in a frustrating relationship with someone who just seems caught in a loop of undesirable behaviors--- it can feel that way sometimes.  But when I look back on what I've seen so far----thankfully, that just doesn't seem to be true all of the time.  We are changed by our experiences/our surroundings---in good ways---in not so good ways----as surely as an egg in a pot of boiling water is changed by its environment.  And when you throw God into the mix---who delights in making all things new----on perfecting His plan by using the most imperfect people----well, things can really get interesting.  In Miriam's bible, it starts off by saying something like, "Some people think the bible is a book of rules.....others think it's a book about heroes telling stories about what they have done for God.....but really the Bible is about God and what He has done."  It isn't difficult to see that the "heroes" of the Bible are just people---people struggling with sin, fear, and misconceptions---and everything good that they accomplish is done only with the strength of a graceful, merciful God.  Even Abraham----that story about Abraham traveling through unfamiliar territory kills me----he gets scared of the people there---anxious that they will kill him because Sarah is so beautiful that they will want her.  So he tells Sarah---"Do me this kindness.  You must say that you are my sister..."  Oh come on, Abraham.  Really?  Luckily, when Abimelech wants to take Sarah as his wife---God intervenes.  The story of Abraham and Sarah's marriage fascinates me----because it must have been one rocky ride.  And yet---despite all this----in the end, we see Abraham mourning Sarah---going through a great deal of trouble to find a suitable burial place for her.  We know he loved her.  I imagine she loved him---in spite of everything.  I am reminded again to show grace in relationships----none of us are already who we will become.  We are all works in progress---God shows us enormous grace----and when we are given this much grace ourselves---it is expected that we also give that kind of grace to others through our friendships, marriages, relationships of any kind.

CS Lewis gives another perspective on why we should be kind and show grace in our dealings with each other:

"There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendours."

Or, put another way:

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you may talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and corruption such as you now meet if at all only in a nightmare."

Lewis reminds us that we all go on forever---one way or the other---we become the companions of God, as was intended when we were created----or we become creatures of infinite wickedness.....and so it is no small thing how we relate to each other......how we treat one another....

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