Interdependence

Jesus prayed, “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
“Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:20-26 

We have been given many models for living. I am grateful for my parents and the upbringing I had. Being a PK (preacher's kid) isn't easy, but they taught us love for one another and respect for all. We were taught to honor all who came our way and include them in our family. That too is sometimes hard for a child, when refugees from fire and other disasters sit at breakfast with you. But I learned the importance of welcome, hospitality and inclusion and how we are interdependence with all of God's creation.

Jesus is deep in prayer. He reminds himself of his relationship with the Creator, as intimate as parent to child. He prays for the ones in his charge, that they might know that intimacy and interdependence. He prays that love may bind them, as it bound him to the people and to God. He prayed so that we, in the depths of Lent, might rejoice in our embedded-ness in the love of God for the whole world.

Today I ask God to help me know the depths of love God has for each of us and live as an interdependent relative of all. May we see the face of God in every one we encounter today and know them as relatives all.

W