Dictionary.com defines atonement as
1. satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amends.
2.( sometimes initial capital letter ) Theology . the doctrineconcerning the reconciliation of God and humankind,especially as accomplished through the life, suffering, anddeath of Christ.
3. Christian Science . the experience of humankind's unity withGod exemplified by Jesus Christ.
4. Archaic . reconciliation; agreement.
At-one-ment or at-one-ness
It is interesting that the very word we use to describe how we come to forgiveness and reconciliation literally means 'to be at one with' or 'the process of becoming one.'
In some of my first verbal communication classes i remember my professors saying that communication is very difficult. Quick example: when i say tree i am thinking of an oak specifically, but when you hear 'tree' you might be thinking of an evergreen. Granted they are both trees but the point is that there is disunity here. I'm thinking about an oak tree, and your thinking about an evergreen.
This may not seem like a big deal but take it to a personal level. Growing up we learn all kinds of social scripts. Social norms vary from family to family, church to church, and even more from country to country. So now when I say something like 'AMEN!' robustly in church there is going to be a variety of responses. What im actually saying is i agree with what was said and it has meaning for me, but someone who grew up in a quieter church may think i had sneezed or an even more ignorant man may think i had finished praying...
Ok, im not sure i proved that point well, but i think we can all agree that communication is hard. But lets take it to a whole more intimate level emotional communication.
When a woman is treated poorly by a man who explains it is in love or because of his love for her she is learning that love is being mistreated by someone. When teenagers hear hundreds of songs about love and how love feels and what love is, it is teaching them what love is. When church goers hear that greater love has no one than to lay down their life for another, it teaches us what love is.
So, now what actually happens when someone tells another that they love them? The woman may feel fear and pain, the teenager may feel excited for a few minuets then wish for a different song, and the church goer may become paranoid and expect to die soon!
Where was i going with that...
All i really wanted to say was that praise the L-rd for Jesus dying on the cross and being raised again for our sins so that now our actions and weak ability to communicate with words have been atoned for. Our one-ness isn't possible because we did all the right things but rather because atonement was necessary. There can be no forgiveness with out transgression, and forgiveness leads us to repentance which causes us to be unified. Our weakness helps us define His strength. We can't really feel intimacy until we appreciate the depths of grace. And we can't appreciate the depth of his grace till we experience a crisis we have caused for ourselves.
Yet, love is patient, kind, gentle, long suffering, forgetful of faults, always trusting, full of hope, and never pain free.
Papa's so good at loving in pain. Loving us all the while with no guarantee we will love Him back. Yet, when we mess up and cause problems, it's his ability to love us in the pain that draws us back to Him. He never lets go. Never runs away.
His atonement has caused our at-one-ment. He has caused our ability to be at one with Him to grow.
I think I'm beginning to see the power in love. Love doesn't have the ability to change actions or behaviors quickly. What it does do is gets your heart. Makes you experience the pain you thought you had hid or forgot. Till you can see all the lime scale and rot you've built up. Then we painfully experience the eternal 'I want you.' Papa, can't you see the scales and mold? I'm not worthy to marry your Son! Give me rocks or wood instead... So, He continues to dance over us till we can joyfully experience the eternal 'I want you.' Love's power then is to brings joy.
I wonder how hard it is to find love if you don't want joy...
Ok, im not sure i proved that point well, but i think we can all agree that communication is hard. But lets take it to a whole more intimate level emotional communication.
When a woman is treated poorly by a man who explains it is in love or because of his love for her she is learning that love is being mistreated by someone. When teenagers hear hundreds of songs about love and how love feels and what love is, it is teaching them what love is. When church goers hear that greater love has no one than to lay down their life for another, it teaches us what love is.
So, now what actually happens when someone tells another that they love them? The woman may feel fear and pain, the teenager may feel excited for a few minuets then wish for a different song, and the church goer may become paranoid and expect to die soon!
Where was i going with that...
All i really wanted to say was that praise the L-rd for Jesus dying on the cross and being raised again for our sins so that now our actions and weak ability to communicate with words have been atoned for. Our one-ness isn't possible because we did all the right things but rather because atonement was necessary. There can be no forgiveness with out transgression, and forgiveness leads us to repentance which causes us to be unified. Our weakness helps us define His strength. We can't really feel intimacy until we appreciate the depths of grace. And we can't appreciate the depth of his grace till we experience a crisis we have caused for ourselves.
Yet, love is patient, kind, gentle, long suffering, forgetful of faults, always trusting, full of hope, and never pain free.
Papa's so good at loving in pain. Loving us all the while with no guarantee we will love Him back. Yet, when we mess up and cause problems, it's his ability to love us in the pain that draws us back to Him. He never lets go. Never runs away.
His atonement has caused our at-one-ment. He has caused our ability to be at one with Him to grow.
I think I'm beginning to see the power in love. Love doesn't have the ability to change actions or behaviors quickly. What it does do is gets your heart. Makes you experience the pain you thought you had hid or forgot. Till you can see all the lime scale and rot you've built up. Then we painfully experience the eternal 'I want you.' Papa, can't you see the scales and mold? I'm not worthy to marry your Son! Give me rocks or wood instead... So, He continues to dance over us till we can joyfully experience the eternal 'I want you.' Love's power then is to brings joy.
I wonder how hard it is to find love if you don't want joy...
Most decent thoughts at 2 in the morning.
ReplyDelete"at-one-ment." nice.
It seems like I never understood His love until I felt the sharp pain of rejection, abandonment, being ignored, when people are indifferent about me... I am so unlike Him in my response to these feelings! The way He made "heaven's peace and perfect justice kiss a guilty world in love" astounds me more with each new step of being fully human I take.