October 11, 2005

In the Boat Together

 

As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. John 17:21

 

The Church of Jesus Christ always seeks to gather the shattered fragments of faith that are the one Church of our Lord and Savior, bring the pieces together in an embrace of love and unity. That dream is encompassed in the ecumenical movement of the modern era. Ecumenical comes from a Greek root meaning the whole inhabited earth, a word expressing the hope and dream and prayer that one day we will fulfill the prayer of John 17 that we all be one in Christ.

 

One symbol of the ecumenical movement is that of the boat, which reminds us that we are all in the boat together and that literally we will sink or survive together, and that in the closed confines of creation we must care for one another.   Recently, on one of our search and rescue teams in New Orleans, I had Christians from very different “theological” backgrounds together on the same boat.  No one drowned!  Although we at times may differ on theological grounds – a crisis many times tears down the walls that separate – especially when we are serving others in the name of Christ.  There is good that comes out of hurricanes!

 

Prayer
Bring closer the day when we are all one in the love of our Lord. Help us to work together for the common good of your Kingdom!  Let others see what we ARE united in.  Amen.

 

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