A Mere Glance Shared by Strangers

A young man is walking down the street and he notices another person walking up in the other direction. Both individuals purposefully don’t look at one another until they pass, and then, if ever so briefly, they lock eyes. It is but a mere glance shared by strangers, but it still makes the hearts of both race as though there was more to be shared than passing glances.

What were they reaching for? What were they afraid of? What holds them back? Aren’t people just looking for someone who will actually listen? Aren’t these ones just searching for something to fill them? Though few sincerely claim the sexual experience as life’s apex, most act like it is.

Clearly we’re searching for intimacy that transcends eroticism. We want to be close in more ways than the contact of our skin.  We are afraid to verbalize the truth of our need, and when we do, more often than not, it feels more like stripping than revelation of the heart. 

I recently heard a man speaking about his childhood at an extremely strict Catholic school. The children weren’t allowed to speak with one another in the halls or in their rooms. Discipline for breaking the rules was costly. As a result of his treatment, he became disenchanted with the idea of a deity, yet daily he attended optional Mass conducted in a language he didn’t know at 5 AM. Why? Because when the instructor entered the room he shook the boy from sleep. His instructor’s morning shove was the sole contact he received during the length of the day, but it was enough to do endure something he disliked so strongly. What lengths we will go to be close to another! 

Could it be that our need for community is derived from our Maker? That the Uncreated One, yes, even the Holy Three–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who have enjoyed perpetual Oneness and distinct person-hood from everlasting to everlasting, could it be that they have made us like unto themselves? Aren’t we longing for such glory? 

“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. ‘Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.’ ” John 17:22-24

We who follow after Yeshua the Messiah will be brought to complete unity, so much deeper than can be comprehended. He is the perfect Prophet and what he has declared will be come to fruition.

~ by saltedwithfire on September 18, 2008.