REFLECTIONS
October 26, 2008
 
 
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39
 
                                                                                                      
Homogenized
                                                                                      
Those old milk bottles were perfectly designed for the times. The long slender bowl tapered into a narrow neck that was perfectly shaped to capture the cream when it separated from the milk and rose to the top. I remember Mom removing it into another container and then giving the bottle a good shaking to hide any remaining curdles of cream back into the milk. The cream was only a small part of the bottle’s content, but you couldn’t pour the milk without mixing in a little cream.
And I remember the innovation when milk was offered in a new container and with a new label. The label read, “Homogenized.” Homogenized meant that the cream had been reduced to very fine particles and evenly distributed in the milk in a manner that prevented separation. Homogenized milk meant the end of the old milk bottle as we had known it and an era ended—but not really.
In many ways the era has continued. It has continued not in the manner we buy milk these days; rather the old milk bottle represents the way we tend to live our lives. Each Sunday we see the cream rise to the top. Christ becomes our focus. We dedicate a few hours toward learning more about him, worshiping him, and thanking him for his love and great sacrifice. But when we leave the place of worship, too often we remove him to another container while we move on with our lives.
It’s as if we live in two worlds—a sacred one and another we call secular. And indeed the world around us is a secular one. But just as the cream is homogenized with the milk, Christ is inseparable from our lives. Wherever we are, we pour his love into the lives of those around us. Each time we pass along a friendly smile, offer words of encouragement, or lend a helping hand, the love of Christ is mixed in with it.
The world we live in may be a secular one. But Christ is homogenized in us. Into every life we touch we pour the love of Christ.
And the secular becomes sacred.
 
“You are the light of the world,”
Richard Ì

www.reflectingthesavior.org.


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