Tuesday May 24th, 2016 1 Corinthians 15:41-58
Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed? (verse 51)
We’ve all been astounded by magicians at some time. These artists succeed because they get us to imagine the impossible, and so imagining, we help the illusion to come about.
The late John Lennon’s song “Imagine” expresses the hope that we not only dream of peace and human cooperation but accomplish it by letting go of prejudices and one-upmanship in our relationships. This includes our religious perspective. Our first reaction to the latter may be yes, so long as everyone else lets go of their perspectives in favour of ours. We thus miss the point of the song and more.
Jesus taught his followers to look to greater things than their personal worldview. He chastised Peter for favouring a small-minded, messianic, Israelite hope instead of appreciating God’s redemptive plan for all humanity (Mark 8:31-33). Religion for Christ was a growing, healing and renewing relationship with the Creator in which all humanity was invited to share.
The apostle Paul points us to imagining life as a process wherein we would see, even in our earthly experience of dying, opportunities for dramatic new creation to occur. Our shallow understanding of God’s purposes needs grace to imagine a better life for all.
Lord, help us to imagine and work for your miracles. Amen. — SO
Contributed by Imagine!
We've all been astounded by magicians at some time. These artists succeed because they get us to imagine the impossible, and so imagining, we help the illusion to come about.
The late John Lennon's song "Imagine" expresses the hope that we not only dream of peace and human cooperation but accomplish it by letting go of prejudices and one-upmanship in our relationships. This includes our religious perspective. Our first reaction to the latter may be yes, so long as everyone else lets go of their perspectives in favour of ours. We thus miss the point of the song and more.
Jesus taught his followers to look to greater things than their personal worldview. He chastised Peter for favouring a small-minded, messianic, Israelite hope instead of appreciating God's redemptive plan for all humanity (Mark 8:31-33). Religion for Christ was a growing, healing and renewing relationship with the Creator in which all humanity was invited to share.
The apostle Paul points us to imagining life as a process wherein we would see, even in our earthly experience of dying, opportunities for dramatic new creation to occur. Our shallow understanding of God's purposes needs grace to imagine a better life for all.
