Seeds For Thinking

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: " . . . His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness" . . .
(From 2 Peter 1:3, NKJV)

I've been thinking about the many times and ways that we form groups, cliques, or clans. We include some people, and exclude others.

They drew a circle that shut me out;
A rebel, a heretic, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win;
We drew a circle that took them in.

I got to wondering about the meaning of the word "clusion, as in, "We've got clusion." Hmmm . . .I couldn't find it in the dictionary, by itself, anyway. I guess that it belongs to that great family of things that are not complete standing alone, like a train of railroad cars without the engine.
Think of a family name, like Smith, or Jones. We need to know if it is Sam or Harry, Jim or Mary. I find that there is a 'family' name of sorts, the 'clude' family, coming from the Latin word, claudere, meaning 'to close.' We might say that some words are like a tractor-trailer rig, in the sense that the trailer carries the load (of meaning) but won't get anywhere without a power source of some kind - the tractor part. Putting it all together, we get in-clude, meaning to enclose, or to embrace. The opposite is to close out, or ex-clude. The act of 'closing' could be either close in (inclusion) or close out (exclusion.)
There is a lot of that going on - inclusion or exclusion, that is. Think about it . . .
Snippets of words, like 'clusion,' are not very useful standing alone; neither are we. God noted that, "It is not good that man should be alone," and created a helper comparable to him. (Genesis 2:18) Personal relationships receive the most emphasis of anything in the Bible. From Cain's cynical denial, "Am I my brother's keeper?" to Paul's summary of responsibilities to God, society and higher powers of Roman's chapter 12, it all comes down to how we draw the circles of 'clusion.
We need to periodically pause to critically examine our circles, pondering the community that we embrace, and especially the community that we bar from participation, consideration, or inclusion.
Who is our neighbor, our brother or sister? Jesus answered the question with the parable of the Good Samaritan. (Luke 10:29-37) We are to step outside of our enclosing circles, and to go and have compassion and show mercy to those we have otherwise excluded.
Circles of 'clusion are very powerful forces. Consider the many problems in the world that stem from those groups, cliques, or clans. We call it prejudice, and it may be based on ethnic, gender, age, national origin, or even religious grounds. Sports allegiances give power to the word Fan, from the word fanatic, "marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion."
Woe betide those who step outside the favored circle. That person risks becoming one of 'them' instead of one of 'us,' risking condemnation and exclusion.
Again, just as 'clusion is ambiguous without the empowerment phrase of 'in' or 'ex' to show whether we are including or excluding, keep in mind that the word Christian is like that also. A Christ -person, in the fullest sense, is empowered by Christ. Take Christ out of Christian, and it is like taking the battery out of a flashlight. The "Light of the World" can not shine on us, nor from us, without that empowerment.
Like it or not, we've got 'clusion. We are sort of like a semi trailer, sitting by the side of the road . . . waiting, waiting, going nowhere. We need a power source to get anywhere. Whether we are in Christ's circle or not is up to us. Are you IN-cluded?
January 28, 2007