A Mending Shift

a bird sings, not because if has an answer to give, but because it has a song to sing … this is my song

When PART is Mis-taken as WHOLE

torn_letter.jpg

We took a walk as a family yesterday. As we walked, I looked down and saw one small piece of a torn up, hand written letter on the ground. Allow me to share with you what it said:

FRONT SIDE OF THE LETTER:

every morning
ery weekday
ed Sat & Sun
ery busy! Well a
my permit ar
a down paym
t the car, but
s name because
nued to pay the
ery month. Afte
gan my junio

BACK SIDE OF THE LETTER:

, bu? Just wa
because I am
g I have ever do
with you. I go
advantage of th
end there, I beg
use everyone else
w that is not a
et I did. I have
t me on that
e was such a

So there you have it…part of a two-sided personal letter. Pretty limited, huh? Just a part of the whole, huh?

People are a lot like this letter. I only can see and know a part of them. I just have a small portion of the whole. A torn fragment…nothing more. It is when I judge and label the part that I see as the WHOLE that things get messy. People get hurt. Names are thrown. Fear is induced. But when I have the humility and honesty to accept that I only know them in part, and can only know them in part, perhaps then I can resist the need to label and categorize them as if I know them wholly.

God’s revelation of himself is also like this letter. He has only revealed himself partly to us. He has done this particularly through creation, scripture, and ultimately through Jesus (though, to a degree, he also reveals himself in other ways to us as well). But each of these are only limited revelations of God and who he truly is. When I believe these partial revelations—or worst yet, my understanding and interpretations of them—as WHOLE, that is when things get messy. Lines are drawn. Camps are divided. People get hurt. But when I have the humility and honesty to accept that I only know—and can only know—in part, perhaps then I can resist the need to claim perfect truth, and label and categorize others. Perhaps then I can begin to trust God like a baby trusts her mom—in love, not in knowledge.

Perhaps it’s then, with baby-like trust, that I begin to realize and experience the Kingdom of God.

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This entry was posted by on Thursday, February 28th, 2008 at 7:42 am and is filed under theology, truth. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

About The Author

Jeromy Johnson
I live in Folsom, CA, with my wife, Jennifer, and three kids. I am surrounded by and cared for deeply by some great friends. Their love for me is truly a moonlit reflection of Papa's love, and for that, I am deeply blessed and grateful.

Comments

  • http://thebestparts.blogspot.com/ Tracy Simmons (Elle)

    Jeromy,

    My husband and I had a wonderful, long talk last night about this post. We realized that some of the most hurtful things that had ever happened to us in church settings occurred in exactly this context you speak of. Being labeled as one thing alone, rather than looking at the whole person in context–ouch! And, frankly, we can see where we’ve done that to others time and time again. Lord willing, never again! :-)

    Great post, so glad you took the time to write it!
    Tracy

  • http://mendingshift.wordpress.com Jeromy

    Lord willing……but chances are, OUR will will win out from time to time. That is when we fall into his love and grace, learning to extend that to our judgers.

    I’m glad you and your husband had a wonderful conversation last night. Thanks for sharing!

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