Interdependence, Part II

Above:  A Family

Image in the Public Domain

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For the Fourth Sunday of the Season of God the Father, Year 2, according to the U.S. Presbyterian lectionary of 1966-1970

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O Thou who from the beginning didst create us for life together:

grant that, by thy fatherly grace, we may put aside suspicion and fear,

and live as one family on earth, praising thy name;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Worship–Provisional Services (1966), 127

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Genesis 2:15-25

Ephesians 5:21-33

Mark 10:1-9

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Torah piety, which informs the New Testament, teaches the following lessons germane to the assigned readings:

1. We depend entirely on God.
2. We depend on each other.
3. We are responsible to each other.
4. We are responsible for each other.
5. We have no right to exploit each other.

In other words, independence is a lie and dependence and interdependence are the rule.

Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.

–Ephesians 5:21, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)

Ephesians 5:22-6:9 contains some understandably controversial and uncomfortable passages.  Misinterpretations are as old as antiquity and as recent as the present day.  This section of Ephesians details spiritual responsibilities–of a husband to his wife, of a wife to her husband, of parents to children, of children to parents, of slaves to masters, and of masters to slaves.  The acceptance of Roman slavery in the context of the expectation of the parousia (which has yet to happen) properly offends moral sensibilities.  All forms of slavery are wrong in all places and at all times.  All forms of slavery violate the Golden Rule.

I am an unlikely person to write a blog post about marriage, for I am a confirmed bachelor.  If I were to marry, I would wed a woman, but I prefer to live alone.  But even we bachelors are responsible to and for others.  We may be solitary by choice and inclination, but we are not cut off from society.

Life together in society, to be as beneficial as possible, requires give and take, for the common good.  As The Book of Common Prayer (1979) reminds us, we depend upon the labor of each other.  May we help each other fulfill the potential each person has, for the glory of God and the common good.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 26, 2019 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS ANNE AND JOACHIM, PARENTS OF SAINT MARY OF NAZARETH

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