Kaleidoscope of Humanity

I probably don't agree with you.

I don't agree with you.

But I need you

Because we belong to one another

In Christ.

You remind me that we are walking the same road together,

Slaves of the same master,

Children of the same father,

Friends of the same king.

You remind me that I've already chosen a side,

And my side is yours

In Christ.

You remind me that my research is over,

And that I no longer must follow rules in order to save myself;

I no longer must construct an argument to justify myself;

I no longer must fight for my freedom or to protect my joy;

I no longer must go searching for good news.

We have already, so to speak, selected our candidate.

We already know whose shoulders can bear this government.

We already know that his credentials and reputation are worth trusting,

And that he alone has found the vaccine to our disease, which we all have.

We belong to one another because we are sick,

And we belong to one another because we have been healed.

You and I, we shatter each other's delusions of an ideal community

For we are equally in need of the same bread and living water

And when we don't eat, we all succumb to masking our malnourishment

Behind a facade of self-sufficiency,

Of self-loathing and self-adoration,

Of self-ignorance and self-projection.

But despite the masks, in Christ 

We can know one another 

As chosen and remade

Already good, already wise, already strong and loved,

Dear, precious and beautiful,

A kaleidoscope of humanity,

The glowing glory of Christ,

The reborn self in one another.

It is vivid to me now,

But when I am stuck, because I will get stuck,

Who can speak words of life to me

But you.

And when I am uncertain and discouraged,

Who will tell me again and again what I need to hear

But you.

And when I blame you or misunderstand you or judge you or resent you,

Who can show me God's grace and forgiveness,

But you?

When the Christ in my heart becomes weaker than the Christ in your heart,

Will you pull me up

As I pray I do for you now?

"The more genuine and deeper our community becomes, the more will everything else between us recede, the more clearly and purely will Jesus Christ and his work become the one and only thing that is vital between us." (Bonhoeffer, 26)

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Life Together. Translated by John W. Doberstein. New York: HarperCollins, 1954.