"And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled."
John 17:11-12
I love the concept of oneness. It is something that God talks a lot about in this chapter, and in the scriptures as a whole. Not in a Borg "you will be assimilated" way, or a creepy "let's make slaves instead" Stepford Wives type of way, but in the type of way that we get a taste of with family and close friends, when they become part of us... things remind us of them and we adopt their sayings, attitudes, or mannerisms. We start becoming this amalgamation of people, because (just like the English language), we borrow a little bit of everyone. :) And that is what being one with God is... because he becomes our best friend and the closest thing to our hearts. We think of him when we run across something that makes us smile. We know and respect what he values, and we make that a part of ourselves, just as he connects with and helps all of us.
In verses 20-21 the prayer continues and Christ says "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; / That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us," so we can also see clearly that this oneness is not just a one-to-one person thing, but it's bigger, where we can have that positive family/friend spiritual connection with everyone, or at least all the everyones that want it too. :) It's the idea of a Zion society, where everyone is "of one heart and one mind," and there are no poor or other impediments to oneness (Moses 7:18). I know that sometimes this seems hard in our society where we often polarize ourselves and find it hard to understand or listen to someone on the other side of whatever line it is... but I think our job is to get closer to God, and as we *all* do that, I think a lot of our problems with each other will fade.
Today, perhaps what we should work on is extending our sense of belonging or togetherness or inclusion a little farther than it is now. Let's try the oneness idea out a little, and see if we can invite more people in, and also be open with other people rather than closing ourselves off, so that we can all learn a little bit more, and trade a little oneness with each other. :) Still not the Borg way, mind you, but the God way, where Christ took care of what the Lord put in his charge, and cared for them and prayed that his Father would keep them safe even after he left them. Let's care for the people around us, and see if we can feel closer to others, and build some little shards of Zion. Who knows... if we keep it up, maybe they'll grow. :)
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled."
John 17:11-12
I love the concept of oneness. It is something that God talks a lot about in this chapter, and in the scriptures as a whole. Not in a Borg "you will be assimilated" way, or a creepy "let's make slaves instead" Stepford Wives type of way, but in the type of way that we get a taste of with family and close friends, when they become part of us... things remind us of them and we adopt their sayings, attitudes, or mannerisms. We start becoming this amalgamation of people, because (just like the English language), we borrow a little bit of everyone. :) And that is what being one with God is... because he becomes our best friend and the closest thing to our hearts. We think of him when we run across something that makes us smile. We know and respect what he values, and we make that a part of ourselves, just as he connects with and helps all of us.
In verses 20-21 the prayer continues and Christ says "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; / That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us," so we can also see clearly that this oneness is not just a one-to-one person thing, but it's bigger, where we can have that positive family/friend spiritual connection with everyone, or at least all the everyones that want it too. :) It's the idea of a Zion society, where everyone is "of one heart and one mind," and there are no poor or other impediments to oneness (Moses 7:18). I know that sometimes this seems hard in our society where we often polarize ourselves and find it hard to understand or listen to someone on the other side of whatever line it is... but I think our job is to get closer to God, and as we *all* do that, I think a lot of our problems with each other will fade.
Today, perhaps what we should work on is extending our sense of belonging or togetherness or inclusion a little farther than it is now. Let's try the oneness idea out a little, and see if we can invite more people in, and also be open with other people rather than closing ourselves off, so that we can all learn a little bit more, and trade a little oneness with each other. :) Still not the Borg way, mind you, but the God way, where Christ took care of what the Lord put in his charge, and cared for them and prayed that his Father would keep them safe even after he left them. Let's care for the people around us, and see if we can feel closer to others, and build some little shards of Zion. Who knows... if we keep it up, maybe they'll grow. :)
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