Jas 5:9-12 / Mk 10:1-12
The great question, “What is the purpose of my life?” can be answered with a single word: Communion, at-oneness with God and his great family. Communion doesn’t just happen, it is built. Doing that is our central life task, and there is no shortcut to it.
So how do we go about constructing this communion which our hearts so deeply desire? First of all, by facing the reality of our blessedness, the reality of how thoroughly unearned are the gift of life and all the other gifts that make our lives so remarkable. Thankfulness fills the heart of anyone who has really seen this truth, and with it comes the desire to respond and reply to the Giver. In that thankful response lies the roots of communion, first with the Lord and then with his people, for thankfulness begets love and love begets action: I have been befriended and now I must befriend in return.
Why are so many friendships so fleeting, so superficial, and so disappointing? Because they lack roots in genuine thankfulness. The hearts of too many of us stay turned inward and see the universe as centered there in that tiny barren space and not in the Father and Maker of us all. That was the folly of Adam and Eve, the pretense that they could be gods and wouldn’t need God anymore.
If you want a friend, look to the One who befriended you first. Plumb the depths of what he’s done for you and learn from him what love means. Learn to befriend as he befriends, and the communion you desire will be yours.
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