May 23, 2004

John 17:20-26

[20] I'm praying not only for them
But also for those who will believe in me
Because of them and their witness about me.
[21] The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
So they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.
[22] The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
So they'll be as unified and together as we are—
[23] I in them and you in me.
Then they'll be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you've sent me and loved them
In the same way you've loved me.

[24] Father, I want those you gave me
To be with me, right where I am,
So they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me,
Having loved me
Long before there ever was a world.
[25] Righteous Father, the world has never known you,
But I have known you, and these disciples know
That you sent me on this mission.
[26] I have made your very being known to them—
Who you are and what you do—
And continue to make it known,
So that your love for me
Might be in them
Exactly as I am in them.

 [The Message]

 = = = = = = =

1. Goal 1 in life: identification with GOD – having our images of one another match, just like that old game of Concentration. Usually we get distracted somewhere along the way and mistake the location of a correlated image. Keeping our eye on Goal 1 gets to be problematic over time. Even if we are able to do it with any limited set, it seems the set keeps growing moment by moment (an expanding universe and all, hey what!).

2. This identification is a source of glory (making presence visible). I reveal the best GOD has to offer, expansive love. GOD reveals the best I have to offer, expansive love. In both cases this expansive love grows as each of us grow. In this our love expands to love all (others and all).

3. To grow in this unity is to mature. This maturity is attractive to others who will come to believe it possible for them to also mature in an expanding and loving universe and to identify with all the rest of it.

 Identity expands to unity. Mystery abounds.