Made for Love and Relationships...Just Ask Harvard

God in His very being models intimate relationship and community. Three persons in one God…the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. All present from the very beginning. All participating in the creation of all that was to come. All working together even now.

Jesus, God in the flesh, models community with those he teaches, feeds, heals in a broad sense, but also the many student disciples, the 12 apostles, and the three in his closest inner circle.

The gospel message is about love. A love that extends grace, forgiveness, reconciliation all while we are in our messy worst state…not only if we become good enough, worthy enough (who can ever meet that standard?). Loving us for who we are in all our mess and letting that love transform us. And what does God want in return? A person relationship. Love.

Jesus sends his followers out in pairs, in groups. We are meant to do life in community. Unity of the church, looking out and caring for each other is a staple. We love and fill in the gaps for one another.

Should it come as a surprise then that the 75-year Harvard study tracking two seeming polar opposite populations, poor men growing up in Boston and male graduates from Harvard, finds that a common thread leads to fulfillment? It is the manifestation of God’s character and God’s creation…community, relationships, love. This. Not wealth, or health, or social status, or awards, or power. It’s love and vulnerability and connection.