The Universal Body of Christ

Today I finished reading Philip Jenkins new book, The Lost History of Christianity. As a student of Christian history, I have ot confess that much of hte subject matter that Jenkins dealt with, I was un-familiar with. He describes the story of the church that moved east, outside of and away from the Roman Empire - the churches that are called Nestorain and Jacobite, the Churches of the East. Appearently, there was a great and flourishing missionary church that survived for centuries under the Rule of Islam and various other states and cultures (China, India, and even Tibet).

Jenkins offers much in the way of analysis of the reasons that these "other" christian communities survived for so long, and then ultimatley, why they have almsot all disappeared (the Copts of Egypt being a notable exception). I couldn't help but feel that we are missing something in western Christianity by being so ignorant of this other aspect of our Christian family. While reading this book, I felt my sense of the depth and breadth of the church grew immensly.

Which is interesting. the other night I was walking and I felt overcome by a strong impression of the connected-ness of the church. Several people had been praying for me regarding my meeting with Bishop Curry and him granting me postulancy or not. While I walked, I could feel the support, love, and earnest prayers of those who care about me and have supported me over the past several years. I truly felt then that I was a part of somthing bigger than myself, that if I became a postulant, and then hopefully a priest, it would be because of the people around me. I can not explain it very well, but there was something mystical about it. That same feeling hit me again as I finished this book tonight. Indeed, we are a part of something much larger than ourselves. Our life and work, destiny and hope are all found in being a part of the universal body of Christ, the family of faith that spans time, culture, and language.