For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption.
John 3:4-8
Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
I am very tired. We have adopted a new puppy. It feels on many levels like I have a newborn baby. Only this baby is adopted. This is not a human child, yet I am still completely responsible for her survival. This adoption is an adoption in the Spirit of Love. I have been with the breeder since before conception on this journey to adoption. Not knowing which puppy would be mine but always having faith and love that one would come to live with me.
I also am adopted. My adopted father chose me, he was responsible for my survival. He adopted me because he loved me as a father loves a child. He may not have been with my story since conception, but he had faith and love enough to know it was the right choice for us both. His father and his son, my brother, also both adopted their first-born children. All three of these men understand the Spirit of Love, much like God adopts us all. Not as slaves but as children.
We all are adopted into the Spirit of Love. Adopted by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We love and care for each other as children of God. In congregation (or Sangha) we adopt each other as a caring, loving family, responsible for each other’s Spiritual survival through faith, and through a Spirit of Love, we become community. And we extend our community to the world with this Spirit of Love, accepting all as adopted members of our family.
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