Staying Connected

I am not smart enough to understand how electric current runs into my home.  I do know that I must keep my house connected to the electric grid and pay my monthly electric bill.  I don’t understand how gasoline makes my car move, but I know that if I want to get to work every day, I must periodically stop at a gas station for a fill-up.  I have no idea how the Internet works, but I know if I want to communicate or stream a movie these days, I have to have a good Wi-Fi connection.  Understanding the importance of staying connected is not just a good thing, it is a vital thing.

While there aren’t too many people who refuse electricity or gasoline or the Internet, there seems to be a growing number of people who are okay staying disconnected with the most important source in our lives – our creator and redeemer.  The stories in this Sunday’s gospel, while they remind us of the healing power of Christ, even more importantly remind us of the importance of staying connected.  Jairus, the synagogue official, perhaps not a regular follower of Jesus, knew that a simple touch of Jesus could save his dying daughter.  The woman with a hemorrhage knew simply touching his cloak could heal her.  There is such an importance of staying connected.  We don’t understand how grace works.  We don’t understand or can never fully understand how his Divine power works, but we must stay connected.  Without it we put our hope in things that pass away.  It is only his Divine power -the power that healed the woman with a hemorrhage and brings to life the girl who was already dead, that is lasting.  Ultimately, he would defeat what had the power to defeat us all – sin and death.  Why would we ever not stay connected to the source of eternal life?

Jairus and the woman ultimately turned to the source.  They knew they had to be connected.  They must have come to that realization through the evangelization efforts of others.  They had heard of his saving power.  God uses each of us to bring others to him.  We seem to live in a culture where we privatize that important task.  Faith has gone from a community experience to a private experience to perhaps no experience at all.

If we were driving down the road and saw a disabled vehicle that had run out of gas, wouldn’t the right thing be to help the driver get some gasoline?  If your neighbor’s house was without power after a storm, wouldn’t the right thing be to lend him your generator?  Then why do we keep our faith secret?  Why are we afraid to speak to others about the most important thing in our lives?  We are made in the image and likeness of God.  We are made for all eternity.  And yet perhaps by staying disconnected from the source, we decide to limit ourselves from the source of that eternal life.  We may not understand how faith works.  We may not be able to explain it to others.  However, we must all stay connected.

- The Servant