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Distances

              I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,  may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:16-21) 

How far is it from where you live to your state’s capital? In my case, it’s 300 miles. It would take about 6 hours to drive it in decent weather. For a person in reasonable health, that might be about 10 days of walking, again in reasonable weather. The distance to the moon is 238,855 miles. It’s 93 million miles to the sun.  A billion dollars stacked would make a pile 67.9 miles tall, Those are all interesting pieces of trivia, but when it comes down to it, do we really have any idea what they mean? Where I stayed in Florida, the lots were 50 feet deep, and while in the park, that had some meaning, but I wouldn’t have been confidence about measuring out a 50 foot line without a tape measure. I’m a little more ready to guestimate more personal lengths: inches, a foot, or a yard, or 6 feet (thanks to COVID.)

The other lengths, heights, depths, and breadths are beyond me, but Paul prays that we may be able to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. Do you reach for those big numbers? It makes sense, but what if the key were not so much that God’s love is 93 billion lightyears across (the size of the universe)? What if the key is that it touches the ground and spreads up to your height, fully surrounding you? What if the key is not in its largeness, but in smallness, or proximity? I understand the objection that God’s love must be big enough and powerful enough to meet our needs, but what does it matter to us if God’s love extends to Betelgeuse (400+ lightyears away) if we’re on earth? Neither would the residents of a world orbiting that star really care if God’s love reached us when their star may go nova any day now. Yes, by all means, the universe-enfolding size of God’s love is something over which we should stand in awe but its smallness and intimacy is what gives us hope and comfort. You might say that it’s a “perfect fit.”

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