Christ is in our Midst!

The phrase "holy monotony" comes to mind in writing about the "fruits of the Spirit," for monotonous must these reflections be for those who are not of the Christian Faith.  In fact, in its root meaning, the word monotony perfectly describes how Christians understand the work of the Holy Spirit in the world. 

"Monotony" derives from the Greek monotonos, a single tone or note.  Such is the kind of  answer, I think, that one is obliged to give when considering questions like "what is the peace of the Spirit?" or what is the hope that the Spirit brings?  Over and over again, if we Christians are honest, our answer will be of "one note," to the point that it may well have the impact of "wearisome repetition," the connotation associated with the word "monotony." 

What is our "monotonic" answer?  In a word, it is simply "Christ."  He is our peace, our joy, our hope:  He is both source and fruit, giver and receiver, alpha and omega, end and beginning. 

Now this indeed may sound monotonous, even nonsensical, to those who do not believe.  For the Christian, however, the idea that Christ is the "answer" is perfectly logical, even as its corollary, "Christ is the question!" makes perfectly good sense to those who believe. 

How can this be?

The answer is that as Christians we are supposed to make Our Lord the center of our lives.  We are supposed to conform our lives to Him, not Him to our lives.  To become a Christian really is to maintain that Jesus is the question and the answer, the heart's constant longing and true home.  But how seldom do we really live in this way!  Instead we lead very broken, dichotomous lives, claiming to be Christians (when it's to my "advantage,"), but with at least one foot firmly rooted in this world less I miss out on life's "goodies."  

Is it any wonder that the fruits of the Spirit often seem to escape us?  How many books have been written by putative Christian authors that instruct in how to acquire peace? Joy? Hope?  Yet in so many cases, these works mistake the forest for the trees.  Just as we should worry much less about eternal salvation, and much more about serving the Lord God here and now, so we should eschew vain quests for the fruits of the Spirit, and instead seek the One Who provides the fruits. 

In this we should be like the Patriarch Jacob, who wrestled with God and would not let Him go without a blessing.  So should we "wrestle" with the Almighty.  We must seek Him and grab on to Him and not allow Him to leave us.  We must lure Him into our hearts and them "shut the door," refusing Him any escape and begging Him to remain within us. 

It is not simply a tautology to say that if Christ could become everything to me, I would certainly have everything.  For in Christ is the fullness of God, and with Him I receive the Spirit and Its fruits, which are themselves the Energies of God. 

So for Christians, there is always a "monotonous" explanation to every situation, a single answer to every question---seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness; serve Christ:  everything else we need will be found there.   

Gary

Feast of the Apostle Philip.