Seventeenth century English poet and pastor John Donne wrote a meditation that includes these famous lines: “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” In Donne’s day, whenever someone in the community passed away, the church bells would ring out to let everyone know that someone they knew had gone to their rest. He makes the point, though, that it wasn’t just that part of the community was no longer with them. He says that a part of themselves has also been lost. The connection, the thing that made all feel the loss of one, was their common ground, their humanity.
Beyond that mutual connection of humanity, though, is another even greater connection, however slim we might think it is. Twentieth century American poet Anne Sexton describes it in her poem, "Small Wire":
My faith
is a great weight
hung on a small wire,
as doth the spider
hang her baby on a thin web,
as doth the vine,
twiggy and wooden,
hold up grapes
like eyeballs,
as many angels
dance on the head of a pin.
God does not need too much wire to keep Him there,
just a thin vein,
with blood pushing back and forth in it,
and some love.
As it has been said:
Love and a cough cannot be concealed.
Even a small cough.
Even a small love.
So if you have only a thin wire,
god does not mind.
He will enter your hands
as easily as ten cents used to bring forth a Coke.
Throughout our lifetime, we have opportunities to explore that connection, that small wire. Sometimes the choice is ours. We may read and study, go to church, pray. But it is also those around us who bring God to our mind through their words and actions. The more often we are reminded about the God in our lives, the more likely it is that He will become the God of our lives.
In a time when we are required to keep our distance from each other in order to protect ourselves and each other, we might be challenged to feel connected to each other. Over the past few weeks, I’ve read many articles about how to survive this time of social distancing and one of the things that always comes up is the importance of maintaining our connections. We are encouraged to make use of all the technology at hand to stay in electronic touch, but to keep connected. The more we virtually connect with each other, the healthier we will be in body, mind, and heart.
The same holds true with our connection with God. If we do not maintain our connection with Him, something profound in us will be lost. John uses the analogy of the vine and branches to help us understand the importance of being connected: “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon.” (John 5:5-8, MSG) None of us is an island entire of itself, no matter how much it may seem that way at the moment. Now more than ever, we cannot leave our connectivity to chance. Let’s consciously reach out through whatever means we can to stay connected—to each other, and to God.
No comments:
Post a Comment