I was captivated as I stood at the altar with my nephew and his new bride. They gazed intently into each other’s eyes as though they could hear or see nothing else. I spoke briefly about the power of oneness called fusion.
Fusion in physics is a nuclear reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or “fuse”, to form a single heavier nucleus. Scientists are working in billion dollar labs on fusion reactors for the purpose of harnessing fusion for energy. It is this process that powers active stars.
This powerful union between a man and woman is something universally sought and yet so rarely experienced. It is really a picture of another even more powerful union that God desires with his bride the church. Jesus prayer highlights this thought in John 17.
I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one–as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.
We reach our highest human potential through union with our Creator in Jesus Christ.
As in marriage, this union with God is a process. First, you have to leave, like Abraham, the home of our ancestors for a country God will show us. Secondly, we cleave to God like Ruth to Naomi,
“Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.”
Finally, we weave, or perhaps it is God who is the weaver, making something good of the threads of our lives. When life gets challenging we remember that God is at work making all things work together for good. You may only see the underside of your lives being woven together, but God has a very different perspective, as this poem says.
My life is but a weaving
Between my God and me.
I cannot choose the colours
He weaveth steadily.
Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow;
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper
And I the underside.
Not ‘til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Will God unroll the canvas
And reveal the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful
In the weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned
He knows, He loves, He cares;
Nothing this truth can dim.
He gives the very best to those
Who leave the choice to Him.