Life Connections
The making of connections is a necessary part of living, so much so that without them we would have no relationships and no ability to make sense of anything. We would not even begin to know who we are. It’s like opening a box full of jig saw pieces in which individual pieces make no sense until the connection of one piece to another eventually completes the picture.
From our time in the womb, we begin to connect. Studies show that this time has important bearings as to how our life, physically and emotionally, will become. The child in the womb connects with all that is happening in the body and emotions of the mother, and her connectedness or lack of, with people, places, and events.
In Christian context there are connections to be made on the human and spiritual levels, though they be entwined. In the life of Christian spirituality, we begin with the scripture connection. We read of the Kingdom of God (you don’t have a kingdom with only one person in it). We read of being a pilgrim people, united in the Body of Christ. Now a body is a connection of many parts. For St Paul, the centre of gravity is always the body of which we are part and whose spirituality is social.
We are called to make connection with the story of the people of God from the story of Genesis through to the story of Jesus and beyond to our own story. Our life ought to be the story of a journey with purpose, not of aimless wandering. We have a destination, but it is up to us to discover the route that will get us there and discover what and whom we might meet on the way. In those discoveries we make connections.
How we relate to God, people, the created world and how we relate with different aspects of our own life are connections to be made in life. When meeting with each other, hearing each other, sharing story, reflecting together during Worship and other gatherings we are making connections. This we do because God, in whose image we are created, first made connection with us. Scripture declares this over and over again.
Here’s an exercise: Take time to think about and write down significant connections in your Christian journey. Connections God and others have made with you and/or you have initiated towards and others and the outcomes which have helped you be who you are.
This web of connections may surprise you! And help you make better sense of your own story.
Grace and peace,
Fr. Greg