INTERCONNECTED

[The title of my  thoughts  for this morning is, “Interconnected”. It will simply be some poetic mumblings  coming off a comment Jesus made in today’s gospel. Here’s the gospel  again. It’s short. “The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him but were unable to join him because of the crowd. He was told, ‘Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you.’ He said to them in reply, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it’”.]

Interconnected. We’re interconnected - yes we are - whether we know it or not - whether we like it or not - whether we choose it or not. We’re interconnected. Yes we are.

Nobody is to be seen as an outsider - once we get inside what Jesus is about. Nobody is unable to be joined because of the crowd. Jesus came for communion - connections - intercommunion. Jesus - the Word from God - came to create a new language - new understandings - new meanings of old words: brother, sister, mother, father. We’re all in this together. We’re interconnected. Yes we are.

Your car breaks down on Route 97. One result: I’m late in picking up the kids. That gets them nervous - because they are wondering where I am. That gets those minding our kids nervous - and we’ll be catching that antsy energy in the car when we’re all together heading home in the same direction. We’re interconnected. Yes we are.

Our fingerprints intermingle on the two dozen or so doors and doorknobs we’ll open and close today  Our morning coffee is from Brazil or Columbia - processed in Seattle - and served us in Annapolis - and sometimes someone else picks up our left on a ledge empty coffee cup and tosses it into a garbage bag made as a petroleum product from Venezuela or Oklahoma or now North Dakota or Nigeria.  We’re interconnected.

Our DNA goes way back, way, way, way back. How far back?,  I don’t know how this stuff works, but they tell me our DNA can tell us how close we are and far apart we are - and it’s not based on color of skin or accent or language - but on cells and twists and turns of our genetic coding - in the mix called me - in the mix called “we” - us. Yet the bottom line still is: we’re interconnected. Yes we are.

The songs we play come down from sounds and melodies from  thousands of different songs - that would be very, very difficult to unravel - but at a wedding - that little kid 2 foot tall in tuxedo - dancing to the music with his grandmother - next to the bride and groom - along with aunts and uncles - and best friends from way back - from all over the place - they are all interconnected - on the dance floor called earth.  Yes we are.

So as e.e. cummings put it, “be of a love a little more careful than anything.” We can say the same of everyone and everything - be of love a little more careful of words and water, air and earth - and all the billions of us in this plane or train. Hey sometimes life feels like a crowded subway car in the rush hour and sometimes it’s a sweet scene of seeing rolling hills from a big  train car window. Sometimes it all depends on how we see it. Everything on the planet has come down to us as gift - but sometimes we don’t accept all as gift and we toss and mess up our space - our place - our planet  - because of sin or self or inconsideration - not thinking of the next guy or gal or generation - so be of stuff, and people and words and thoughts and interactions - a little more careful than anything. Hey! Our dust - our clay - our earth - called our body - is surrounded  by present and past dust of the dust of folks from thousands of years ago - and  the air we’re breathing was once in the lungs of  Mussolini or Cleopatra or who knows whom from  a long time ago - maybe even Jesus. Who knows?  Stuff - air, water, earth, veggies - all  have a long recycling life. We’re interconnected. Yes we are.

So we are our brother and our sister’s keeper and we are my brother and mother and father and sister to each other - so why in the world don’t people realize we’re all together on this big long communion line - sharing not just bread and wine - but when sacrificing and serving -  becoming Jesus - along with all else that is good - words and song and music and water and air and earth in so many forms - in so many ways and waves - and this makes us brother and sister and mother and father and one with each other - so why can’t we hear these words of Jesus we heard today and act on them? Amen.