Closer to love

Its (a beautiful) Sunday here in Pittsburgh, and someone just started a blasted lawn mower. I was trying to partake of food, beauty and quiet before going to work. I think I'll still succeed, but I wouldn't mind if the lawnmower wasn't running in the background. There was a wonderful church service this morning. We sang quite a few old hymns: Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee; On Jordan's Stormy Banks; God, Be Merciful to Me; Great is thy Faithfulness. The pastor spoke of "God Behind the Scenes," God at work in the world and in our lives even when we cannot see how He is working or to what end, for what profit or purpose, using as his text Exodus 1:1-2:10. During the sermon, I had a small epiphany. Hebrews tells us that Christ can sympathize with our experiences, our temptations, in every way, because of the incarnation. I realized that, because of the cross, Christ can also identify with the separation from God that we feel as fallen and sinful creatures.