“Light” from the Black Forest
July 18, 2014Blog #2 from the series, “Light” from the Black Forest
Today’s guest blogger is Dr. Dianne Alexander, Professor, Cairn University
Oneness
Perched on the deck of our lodge high above the still waters of Lake Thun, I breathed in the calming presence of God’s creation as I stood encircled in the glorious majesty of the Swiss Alps. A continuation, another side perhaps, of the peace that had settled over me the evening before in worship. Oneness.
At the end of an intense week of teaching at Cairn University’s international learning community in Kandern, Germany, the Holy Spirit continued to bring this concept so dear to the heart of Jesus Christ to my mind. Jesus’ prayer, recorded in John 17, echoed in my thoughts,
…that they may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us…And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one
just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent me, and have loved them as You have loved me.
Oneness. Mystical, compelling.
Laying aside what often tends to be an all-consuming task, five weeks of graduate study, some of us had joined together in worship, a mix of nine students and professors from Nigeria, Brazil, Azerbaijan, Korea, Hong Kong, China, and the States. One week…two weeks before, many of us had been strangers. Now we gathered to praise God for the amazing miracles we had experienced that week; to minister to each other through spiritual songs and Scripture passages; to settle our minds in our hearts to allow God to become our primary focus.
After our hearts were quieted with a few worship songs, Segun invited us to stand and join hands in prayer. Within our circle of prayer, we became very aware that the glory of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—was in our midst and was being given to us, just as Jesus had prayed. Oneness.
As we continued to worship, joys and heartaches were shared. Together, we rejoiced and together, we grieved. Burdens and problems were revealed. We prayed for wisdom. God breathed life-words of edification—counsel, correction, comfort, hope—into our minds and hearts to minister to each other. Oneness.
We became lost in time and space. No longer were there thoughts of post-course assignments, the impending World Cup match, the dinner hour just passed. We had been totally enraptured in the present, the here and now, into God’s presence. Oneness.
As I left the deck of the lodge and entered my room, I spotted a Gideon Bible on the ledge in front of me. I smiled. Multi-cultural in itself, it had four translations—German, French, Italian, English. In flipping to the English version, the pages opened to Ephesians 2. I smiled again.
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Oneness. Jesus Christ, God, the Spirit. Unique but one. Oneness. Jesus’ heart desire for us—fellow-citizens of the family of God, unique but being made one. Being perfected into Oneness.
God is chiseling away at our self-conceived blueprints—our agendas, our habits, our limitations, our right to ourselves—to transform each of us into the image of His Son, the Chief Cornerstone; living stones, to be fit together in the Spirit as one dwelling place of God.
How mystical, how compelling, when we allow God to give us a taste of this reality, this transforming into Oneness, as we gather together with members of the household of faith to worship Him, to seek His wisdom, to build each other up, to receive His glory.
Dear to the heart of Jesus Christ. Oneness.
Thank you, dear brothers and sisters, for being used of God to teach me.
Dr. Dianne Alexander, Professor, Cairn University