“And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.” (Matthew 8:21 KJV)
Connections… Family connections, business connections, social networks, obligations, contracts, and so many more all connecting via a rapidly growing Internet network. Have you ever actually seen one of those Internet maps? One of those very macro scaled images that look not all that unlike a blaze of stars in the sky? The obvious difference being the emphasis on the connections between the points rather than the real stars in the sky which appear to have no connecting lines. Do stars have a means of connection and we simply cannot see what joins them? Are they merely a humanly innumerable set of independent points held in rotation by the forces of gravity? We work hard at building our connections here and I wonder what inspires that? Sure, how it manifests itself varies greatly in dozens of different types of connections and at multiple layers, but what is the source of that need to connect?
These sources have very different roots. If we are the source and inspiration for the means of uniting, we have the ability to accelerate, slow, and steer that shaping. If that source is far bigger than ourself, we are either partially or fully at the mercy of the one accelerating, slowing, and steering us. What if that which fastens all this together is both big enough to know every node individually as well as have the ability to assemble the big picture? Would it reflect any intelligence to attempt to disconnect from that? Can He give us a better reason and method of connecting? One that connects deeper, realer, and for longer? If the search is for intelligence for life, would it make any sense to reject it once it was discovered?
Sadly, the issue becomes a control issue rather than an assertion of the intelligence. How much more tragic when He is not only intelligent, but the very definition of Love, the very example of humility, and offers the very expensive gift of grace? A gift that cost Him everything. How expensive does our passion for control become? Will it cost us everything?
“But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.” (Matthew 8:22 KJV)