I don’t like going to the dentist. Never have. Indeed, I don’t know too many folks who do. I do, however, have one positive memory of going to the dentist when I was a kid. In the waiting room at the dentist’s office was a stack of magazines, and among the magazines I would almost always find, if I searched for it hard enough, a Highlights Magazine. Do you remember that magazine? To be honest, I don’t actually recall reading much of the magazine because I would always turn as quickly as I could to the Connect the Dots game page. The goal of the activity was to connect all of the dots with a pencil, proceeding from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 to…. you get the picture. Clearly this was before children had smart phones to occupy their attention! After connecting all of the dots, a picture would emerge from the page. If I was lucky, some other kid hadn’t gotten to the page before me, and I would be able to be the one to connect the dots and draw the picture. It was magical, really.

All of life is connected. That’s the way that God created it. A healthy spiritual life occurs when we not only recognize this fact, but actually do what we may to stay connected. I believe that sin occurs when we become disconnected from each other, from other parts of God’s creation, or from God himself. We profess that God so loved the world that he sent Jesus to earth to connect the dots once again and reconcile us both to each other and to God. Christ is constantly about this work of reconciliation, and as followers of Christ, connecting the dots is our commission as well.

Real reconciliation is rarely easy. It always starts and ends with prayer, recognizing that if reconciliation is truly to happen, it will only be through the power of God’s Spirit working in and through us. Prayer reminds us of God’s will and God’s ways. Prayer gets us back into the flow of God’s grace. Prayer connects us once again to God and empowers us to connect with others. Is it any wonder, therefore, that Jesus taught his disciples to pray?

As a kid, I was always amazed as I connected the dots in the Highlights magazine. The picture would almost mystically appear as each connection was made. It’s the same as we go about the work of reconciliation… connection by connection, dot by dot, the Kingdom of God begins to emerge here on earth as it is in heaven.

~Father Art