The Word

"And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a parent's only child, full of grace and truth." John 1:14

When we were children, and there were five of us all together, my parents had to keep the unruly mob in check and so had to discipline us on some regular basis. They used two phrases that struck terror in our hearts. We would either be getting the "look" or "the word". My mother distributed the look and my day dealt the word. When either was mentioned,we knew that we were in trouble and punishment was pending, if we didn't clean up our act. My mother would threaten that our father would give us the word when he got home. It usually only took a threat for us to return to towing the line. This look and word are mortal means of control, while the Word of God is the fullness made complete in power and humility.

When John talks about the Word, he talks about the utterance of the Creator of all life, who is with God from the beginning. John talks about some manifestation of God being understood as word. Word with power and promise, word with the complete truth and glory made accessible to us broken human beings. God in the Creator's completeness made completely approachable.

May we know this day that no matter how broken, mistaken and foolish we feel, God comes to us in completeness, offering us healing and relationship. That is God's Word, the fullness and power of God, brought to us in the flesh so that we might know God's desire and love for us. May we know that God has spoken it, and means to see it through, that all people will be enfolded in the loving arms of the loving and living Savior. There is no one beyond the love and relationships with Gos. No child is unworthy and in God's reign, no child nor adult is left behind. May we all rejoice in the Word of God, expecting the fullness of God in our lives, deeply and completely and especially in the dark and broken places of our beings.