The Hour Has Come for the Son of Man to Be Glorified

 

The good news in John 12:20-33 is that we are left with Jesus’ capacity to transform the world through us. The tiny grain of wheat falls to the earth, dies, is reborn and eventually bears much fruit. Through us, His Word is brought fully into the world, even by just one individual who touches those around him. They will be transformed, and the stories they in turn will tell, will transform others, continuing to work miracles in the lives of any who aspire to be Christ-centered for generations to come 

We are all connected in ways that we don't fully understand but in a world in which there are no coincidences, His Blessings are meted out in just the right dose and time. I know we are "lucky" to know this, and that luck has nothing to do with it? Yet, in giving myself permission to indulge in this "special knowledge," I pray that I am not giving myself too much credit and wallowing in self-gratification? Jesus is my personal mentor and my personal way to the Father. How dare I take so much of His Time? I want to believe that the more He gives, the more He wants me to take. To understand this in the context of our human nature and "good manners" and not feel "greedy" are not easy to reconcile.  
 

God does not want to be a part of, or at the periphery of our being; He wants to be centered in us as our sustenance. And if He is centered in us and we in Him, than we are inter-connected as one with the universe. Our interconnectedness as part of the Body of Christ in which we exist "with Him, in Him and through Him," comes alive in John's gospel, in which Jesus tells us that "I am the Bread of Life"...without which we will die.. 

Jesus went beyond superficial divisions and called for a culture of compassion…Compassion changes everything. Compassion heals. Compassion mends the broken and restores what has been lost. Compassion draws together those who have been estranged or never dreamed they were connected. Compassion pulls us out of ourselves and into the heart of another, placing us on holy ground where we instinctively take off our shoes and walk in reverence. Compassion springs out of vulnerability and triumphs in unity. . (Judy Cannato, Field of Compassion, P 8)