Radically Relational

This blog's title was one of the nuggets that was given out this morning.
I love it!
The two words joined together come to life!

I got into my car this morning and headed to a friend's church.

As I drove I talked with Papa about a couple of  things.
One part of our discussion was about about how I could truly sense Him behind the decision to join my friend for church this morning.

She attends a Roman Catholic church.
It is a chapel that is on property maintained by a group of brothers (priests).

Having been raised in the Catholic faith I am very familiar with their rituals and way of doing things.
Or so I had thought.

My readers may recall my sharing an adventure last year where I found myself pulling into a church of that denomination and finding it to be a place of peace and blessing.

So my mind was more open as I headed to church this morning.

As I reflected on the denomination itself I recognized something that I had not given much thought previously.
They have held onto the mystery of God.

Scripture is not silent on the subject, but much of the church that I have been familiar with these past thirty-three years is.

Yes, Jesus revealed God to us and we can know Him personally, yet He is still God.
God is not someone we can wrap our brains around.
If we could, He wouldn't be much of a God.

I love what Paul says in First Timothy, Three, verse Sixteen:

"And by common confession great is the mystery of godliness; He who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit, beheld by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory."

That is an amazing truth that is more than we can take in.
It is a truth which should stir in us awe and wonder that renders us silent.

As I sat in the service this morning that is what I experienced.

It wasn't a service such as I remember experiencing as a child, no it was one that encouraged each one of us to participate, yet with the sense of awe that we can.

The doors were wide open and the sweet spring breeze filled the little chapel. 
The songs were simple, yet the words stirred one's heart to own them. 

The priest, who was a humble, down-to-earth man, modeled a reverent joy that was catching.
The message he shared addressed the rest of my conversation with Papa.

I have been uneasy with the way my friends at the rehab are treated. 
There is no sense that each individual is a valuable human being that deserves to be treated with respect.
Little care is given to the individual.
The rules must be followed.
This is so important that there is no room for flexibility.

I want to speak into the situation, but need to be able to understand exactly what I felt the lack is before I can say anything to anyone.

The message spoke of how our God is a relational God and what a privilege we have to be His body reaching out to draw others into relationship.
He went on to speak of all the ways that people need to be ministered.

His words just sorted out the jumble of emotions and thoughts within me.

We are called to reflect our God, who is radically relational.  He demonstrates that over and over.

I cannot go into the rehab referencing God in my defense of caring for the individual.
However, the importance of communicating each person's value is very politically correct.
I can get the message across to them without having to explain where I got it from.

They will know anyway, but we will just pretend they don't.
For now.  :)

That is part of being radically relational.
Just like our God.