Fellowship(4-13-04)
In summary, we all need the living experience of fellowship in the local expression of the body, received through the created senses which have been serving people well for thousands of years--
Hearing with the ears the coughs, sighs, laughs, groans, screams, cries, and spoken words of fellow bvelievers with their babies and children, as well as the sounds produced by their walking, falling, eating, working, or sleeping, or the awareness that their bodies are silent.
Seeing with the eyes the smile on their lips, the tears in their eyes, their body features, facial expressions, gestures, movement patterns, interaction patterns, clothes, vehicles, tools, furniture, houses, and neighborhoods.
Feeling through the skin their touch or embrace, the rug they wove, the table they made, the clothes they sewed, the bowl they turned, and the scab on their son's screened knee.
Smelling through the nostrils their sweat, the perfume which they choose to apply, the smoke from their wood-burning stove, the food baking in their ovens, the manure on their boots, the lilacs on their table, and their baby's poopy diaper.
Tasting with the tongue the food they eat, and feeling in the guts the effects of eating food they have prepared and eaten with me, the effects of going without food while I spend hours with them, and the emotions shared or generated as I spend time with them.
And the sensing of presence. We can read much about God, and even read the very words of God. But we can't say that we know him until we have experienced his presence. The same is true of those made in his likeness. We don't know people until we have been in their presence.
I write this as one who feels that he has many times experienced this blessing, and the absence of it.
John
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