Distance

August 19, 2017

Being busy has its advantages. From 6:30 till about 11:00, it was non-stop action, with grandkids crawling out of bed from 7:00 till 9:30, all of them needing breakfast before they headed in different directions for the day. We tend to eat in shifts, the younger ones being the early risers, followed by the older teenagers, with the exception of Eliza, who could (and has) sleep till noon. Nate’s girls had swim practice at 7:30, so except for Alex, they were up and out the door by 7:00. You see, there are exceptions to every rule.

By the time all the beds were made, the dishes done, and laundry in the wash, the last of the kids were gone, and I had time to sit with my coffee to read and pray. And that's when it sinks in. I'm here by myself. Linda is still with the girls on their annual Christmas shopping spree, and I am here all by myself. I don't mind being alone, except for the times when Linda and I would normally be doing something together. Like our morning coffee. I got a text from her telling me that she had breakfast alone. Apparently the others hadn't gotten up yet, and she was feeling the same emptiness that I was feeling. 

Psalm 68:6 says (in the King James Version I learned as a kid) “God setteth the solitary in families.” For years this didn't make any sense to me until I realized that in this instance, ‘solitary’ is a noun, not an adjective. God puts people in families so we don't have to be alone. Of course, that doesn't always work, as sin and dysfunctional family systems keep even family members estranged from one another.

Today, we were both solitary. It was only temporary, but the emptiness each of us felt was like a dark spot in our souls. We are made in the image of God, which among other things, means we were made to live in relationships. God is Trinity. The classical description is in the form of a prayer to God the Father ending with these words, “in the Name of Jesus Christ your Son, who lives with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit.” Relationship is at the heart of who God is, and is at the heart of what it means to be human, and especially at the heart of what it means to be Christian. Relationship with God and relationship with one another cannot be separated. As John says, “How can we say we love God whom we have not seen if we do not love our brother whom we have seen?” (1 John 4:20).

If our temporary separation causes us distress, it must be heartbreaking to God when by our sins we choose to live even in temporary separation from him. In this light, sin isn't as much breaking God’s Law as it is breaking his heart. Oh that I would be as distressed over my spiritual distance from him as I was over this morning’s geographical distance from Linda!