Parking Lot from last Sunday

Keith Rogers introduced a questions that had, in fact, occurred to me as I was studying for Sunday's lesson: "Why mention "inclusive language? What's the point?" The more I tried to explain, the clearer the "point" became. Our author (and, indeed, Willimon in his Lord, Teach Us to Pray) was not pointing at the essence of who God is, but rather at the familial relationship--a very intimate relationship--between God and Jesus. God is Father because Jesus is Son; and because of Jesus, we are adopted into the family. Now that's good news! What a fun idea!

At another point we talked about the boundaries present in our relationships; and after the comments of the astronauts were read, I mentioned that I was reminded of Bette Midler's song "From a Distance", which touches on similar themes. See those words at http://www.bettelyrics.com/lyrics/fad.htm. Kent Grimes mentioned disagreeing with the refrain, which puts God at a distance watching; and I certainly would agree that our concept of God is not "from a distance." (....unless in using that terminology we are referring to the God's perspective. [i.e. God's vision is so big, so widely angled, that the walls between "us" and "them," "you" and "me" are not visible. In fact, they are non-existent so far as God's love and hope for "us" and "them" are concerned.

Judith