Nakedness
We are, indeed, in an age of disconnection. But, please, do not let yourselves fall into the depths of despair, because there is hope. There is a cure! (No thanks to modern medicine).
Vulnerability.
Yupp, I said it. Vulnerability is the cure to disconnection.
Unfortunately, vulnerability also sounds like the type of medicine you need to swallow with a spoon full of sugar Mary Poppins style.
For so much of my life, I quaked (and sometimes still do) at the word "vulnerability." It means putting myself out there, risking my image and reputation, being exposed without knowing how others will receive me, being "naked"... It means no longer holding the upper hand, no longer having control...
If that's vulnerability, why would I ever want to be vulnerable?
Because vulnerability is directly related to love. You cannot love without vulnerability and you cannot be loved without vulnerability.
Just look at the cross! There is our Lord Jesus Christ--God made man, the infinite all powerful, all knowing God in human flesh completely exposed without even a loin cloth to protect him from all the gazing eyes of passersby. There he hangs from the wood with his wounds seeping, exposed to the elements and with his flesh bare against the sun. There he is. Ecce homo. Behold the man.
That is vulnerability. And that is the greatest act of love ever known! It was through God's radical vulnerability that we obtained salvation.
But God's vulnerability did not begin there! No, it's not even where it ended. Rather God's vulnerability is infinite--he wants to reveal himself to us in all times and in all places. "This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." (John 17:3). God's vulnerability and us entering into that vulnerability is eternal life--to know Jesus Christ is eternal life. To know him. To know him so deeply--to know his heart, to know his mannerisms, to know his thoughts, to know his tastes, to know his suffering, to know his agony, to know his joys. That is eternal life. Relationship with God.
But, God's vulnerability is only half the battle.
He asks us to open ourselves to him and in turn be vulnerable with him, entrusting our entire lives to his care and step out onto the choppy seas. He asks us to step out...fully trusting in Him...that he will not let us sink...that he will care for our hearts when we present them to him. The only way we can in turn be vulnerable is to trust, but sometimes that takes a leap (or step) of faith.
Trust.
Trust is built over time, through mutual vulnerability. Mutual vulnerability can flourish when there is trust. That trust that cannot be built quickly and speedily through technological means, but rather is fostered over time through presence, being, and steadfast love.
We are in an age of disconnection. Our friendships are suffering. Our relationships with God are suffering. But with trust and vulnerability, we can reclaim relationships and enter into beautiful friendships like Anne Shirley and Diana Barry.
Vulnerability.
Yupp, I said it. Vulnerability is the cure to disconnection.
Unfortunately, vulnerability also sounds like the type of medicine you need to swallow with a spoon full of sugar Mary Poppins style.
For so much of my life, I quaked (and sometimes still do) at the word "vulnerability." It means putting myself out there, risking my image and reputation, being exposed without knowing how others will receive me, being "naked"... It means no longer holding the upper hand, no longer having control...
If that's vulnerability, why would I ever want to be vulnerable?
Because vulnerability is directly related to love. You cannot love without vulnerability and you cannot be loved without vulnerability.
Just look at the cross! There is our Lord Jesus Christ--God made man, the infinite all powerful, all knowing God in human flesh completely exposed without even a loin cloth to protect him from all the gazing eyes of passersby. There he hangs from the wood with his wounds seeping, exposed to the elements and with his flesh bare against the sun. There he is. Ecce homo. Behold the man.
That is vulnerability. And that is the greatest act of love ever known! It was through God's radical vulnerability that we obtained salvation.
But God's vulnerability did not begin there! No, it's not even where it ended. Rather God's vulnerability is infinite--he wants to reveal himself to us in all times and in all places. "This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." (John 17:3). God's vulnerability and us entering into that vulnerability is eternal life--to know Jesus Christ is eternal life. To know him. To know him so deeply--to know his heart, to know his mannerisms, to know his thoughts, to know his tastes, to know his suffering, to know his agony, to know his joys. That is eternal life. Relationship with God.
But, God's vulnerability is only half the battle.
He asks us to open ourselves to him and in turn be vulnerable with him, entrusting our entire lives to his care and step out onto the choppy seas. He asks us to step out...fully trusting in Him...that he will not let us sink...that he will care for our hearts when we present them to him. The only way we can in turn be vulnerable is to trust, but sometimes that takes a leap (or step) of faith.
Trust.
Trust is built over time, through mutual vulnerability. Mutual vulnerability can flourish when there is trust. That trust that cannot be built quickly and speedily through technological means, but rather is fostered over time through presence, being, and steadfast love.
We are in an age of disconnection. Our friendships are suffering. Our relationships with God are suffering. But with trust and vulnerability, we can reclaim relationships and enter into beautiful friendships like Anne Shirley and Diana Barry.
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