Joyous Fellowship

Mitchell, Brody, Shannon, and Shelby,

My job at McDonald's is secretly a class for my eventual doctorate in philosophy.  People come in, and you see all sorts of different personalities, if you're observant enough.  You also make a lot of mistakes at the new place, and the manager come sfrom on high to point out the various things you do wrong, which you have to learn from and humble yourself enough in order to accept.  Then I picked up a newspaper that someone left laying out in the lobby to read the funnies.

To my surprise, I encountered a joke that sounded more like a wise saying from a religious text than an attempt at humor.  In Beetle Bailey, Beetle has something to ponder.

"I don't get it..." he says to his friend.  "Mankind has been at war since the beginning of time.  What's wrong with mankind?  Why can't we get smart and figure it out?"

Private Plato looks across an open field to distant tanks.  "Because every 30 years there's a new mankind."

It's not that I have to keep that in mind as I go over the next few verses in my bible -- I don't -- but I do wonder about how often these letters need to be read, especially when looking for Grace.  I suppose this isn't so much a problem in the Catholic tradition, but I've heard non-Catholics say things about how the Reformation needs another Reformation, because we so frequently forget what's so obvious and instinctively look for a more complicated answer for salvation.

Given how much little time I have, I really don't have an opportunity to write a lot about 1 John beyond the rest of the opening.

So just a refresher, asides from his eschatological language, three things stood out to me: eternal life, fellowship, and joy.

And I had a brief thought.  As I have spoken in the past, I prefer authentic relationships.  I don't necessarily care if the other person is a terrific, morally upright person, because I can look past someone's broken nature.  I like to look back and think "You know, I actually knew that person."

Then I also have to wonder, since God said that it is not good that man should be alone: is it really possible to be happy without being in fellowship with each other?  Does the goodness of eternal life get brought into the present when we enjoy what we have as members of Christ together?

It's a truism of modern society that we don't need someone else to make us happy.  There's truth to that, I know, but at the same time, there's verses like these and they don't go away.  I suppose that I really don't need anyone's approval to be happy, for sure, but should I actively seek and desire the love of others?  And if I don't receive it, I suppose that there is always God, and He never goes away, but I just suppose that it's always better if you also have the affection of others as well, since that's the way that it ought to be.

Where exactly do I draw the line on this?  Because on one hand, desiring the company of others can turn into idolatry, and you don't really need it.  On the other hand, it's virtually commanded by God from the very beginning of time.  God Himself is a relationship, inherent in being a trinity.  So I just wonder.

You see, once I had a pretty good answer to this.  Maybe I even wrote it in my journal once, a sophisticated exposition on all things pertaining to the mode and purpose of relationship in a covenent universe.  I thought I had it all figured out, and now I have to go and figure it all out again!  30 years just got compressed down to 30 days; I'm already a new humanity learning old lessons from scratch.

Sincerely,
John Hooyer