Original Goodness

            I recently started reading an incredible book by Richard Rohr called "The Divine Dance."  I highly recommend pretty much anything that Richard creates, whether it's a book, blog post, or video.  The book is essentially about the "Trinity", a human construct of how to describe God in perfect relationship.  Most attempts at describing the mystery that is God fall woefully short.  In the book, Richard begins to lay out different thoughts and ideas that have been proposed and discussed over centuries, and maybe a fresh and new, yet old, way to "see" God.  I say fresh and new, yet old, because he takes us back to the beginning.  Ultimately, before the beginning, to original perfection and the relationship that is God.
            We often think of ourselves, and rightly so, as those that are broken in a broken world.  This is certainly true, and we live in this reality together as people that share in our brokenness, and rely on the redemptive and healing power of God.  Yet, God's original design was that all creation was invited into this "dance" of relationship.
            Rohr writes, "This divine intention---this audacious invitation---is embedded in creation itself; it later becomes concrete, personal, and touchable in Jesus.  In other words, divine inclusion, what we rightly name salvation, was Plan A and not Plan B!"  He goes on to say, "Our starting place was always original goodness, not original sin.  This makes our ending place---and everything in between--- possessing an inherent capacity for goodness, truth, and beauty."
            May we see that the capacity for goodness is designed into us.  May we choose to join back into the dance that we were invited into from the beginning.

                Chris White