~~Inspired by Richard Rohr~~
The story is a doorway to the infinite. The story is NOT the infinite. We cannot contain the infinite in the story. That is the mistake made by fundamentalism.
Our story, the Christian story, opens the doorway to these truths: God overcomes the gap and comes to the most material part of life, God comes in the most humble circumstances, God is hidden in the ordinariness of straw in a manger, God is vulnerable.
The story opens up God reality from the inside. Our job is to unpack the story and let it work in us. The tendency among many Christians is to try to prove the story is fact. That’s a waste of time and energy because it cuts us off from the infinite love of God, not because God has moved away, but because we have ignored the un-hiding of God that will come when we allow the story to reveal what is deeply held within it. What is deeply held is beyond fact, beyond information.
What is deeply held is the love of God, which is not a sentimental feeling but a power, a transforming power that makes it possible for people to love enemies and forgive. This love is not contained in the story; it is deeply held and grounded in the story so that it can grow beyond the limits of the story.
Let the story of Jesus take you into the limitless bounds of God’s love this year.