The Daily Conflict - The World or God?

I'm coming back online during Advent (perhaps I'll be able to carry on through the New Year!) because my own spiritual path is in transition. More on that as the season proceeds. I'll start with a meditation that I found in an Advent booklet published by United Church of Chapel Hill a few years ago. 

The meditation is based on Matthew 22: 15-22, the question of paying taxes. “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” The writer of the meditation feels that this is an opportunity to reflect on our own lives and ask the questions what is our obligation to God, what are our obligations to the world, and how do we choose between the two.

My reaction was to remember one of the things I've learned in reading Bishop John Spong. The Bible was written in a day in which God existed outside the world, in the sky, and humans existed separately, on the earth. So there was a divide. The world or God? Ancient image, ancient concept.

Modern concept: the Divine Spirit permeates around and through everything. Earth, heavens, people, deeds, seas. Everything. I believe that the question for me in this modern world is...how do I make the Spirit VISIBLE, how do I manifest it?  My purpose is to bring the Light out from under the bushel and place it on a lamp stand. Every choice, every action can be a Revelation of the Spirit. That revelation comes from the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23): Joy, Love, Peace, Patience (Forbearance), Generosity, Kindness (Compassion), Gentleness, Self-Control, and Faithfulness. As the United Church of Christ says, "God is still speaking". God speaks through me.

God speaks through us.

May it be so. Amen.