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Scripture~Ephesians 1.23
And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself. (NLT)
Story~The Autograph of Christ
A woman felt something was lacking in her relationship with God. She prayed about it for several weeks. Then one night she had a dream. She saw herself meeting Christ. She was excited and did not want Jesus to leave her. She asked the Christ, "Jesus, would you please give me your autograph before you leave?" He smiled and said "Certainly." She handed Jesus a piece of paper and a pen. He wrote, then he turned and walked away. After Jesus was out of sight, she looked down to admire the autograph of Christ. To her surprise his signature read "Your neighbor."
Scripture~Colossians 3.11
It doesn't matter if you are a Greek or a Jew, or if you are circumcised or not. You may even be a barbarian or a Scythian [i.e., brutal savages], and you may be a slave or a free person. Yet Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. (CEV)
Comments
The Holy Spirit, being Love, is Connecting, or Unitive, Energy. Christ is the image of Unity arising from the Origin, the Father, or One Who Eternally Begets the Word. In God-as-Father all differentiation is in prior and perfect Oneness, even as the Word is the Image of that Oneness and the Holy Spirit is the Immanence bringing the possibility and image of Oneness into actuality in human relations.
So, as in the Colossians passage, in Christ opposites are reconciled within a Oneness inhering in the Father, as First Cause, or as All Possibility. This is only possible because of the nature of the Holy Spirit as Love.
There are basically two fundamental energies in life: fear, love. Fear leads to separation, to division, to disunity. Love leads to togetherness, union, and unity. The Holy Spirit is the action of love, for the Holy Spirit is Love within Trinitarian Being.
Reflections
1) What does the story "The Autograph of Christ" mean to you?
2) What does it mean that in Christ is reconciliation of opposites?
3) Is there a particular kind of person that you struggle to accept as one with you?
4) What does it mean for you to see Christ in persons both like and unlike you?
5) How is the Church an image of Unity? Of Love? Is the congregation you belong to a healthy example of Oneness? Explain.
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