Declaring Dependence

It is very humbling to constantly live in a state of dependency.  As an infant it is all we know.  I have two children.  I know first-hand that they were born totally dependant.  They did nothing for themselves.  As adorable as it was to have a living baby doll that I could feed and clothe, I also enjoyed watching them achieve measures of independence.  It came to them in bite size pieces.  My son struggled for his independence with enthusiasm and sometimes did not land on his feet.  Despite future failures and set backs, he is also the most likely of the two to reach the stars.  My daughter pursued independence very slowly.  She loved the feel of wet food on top of her head and she took quite a long time to be tired of wearing her diaper.  However, although she may never be driven to achievement, she is most likely of the two to find satisfaction in love.  They are two very different people.  And they need each other.  They need many things.  They may be more independent of personal care than they were as infants, but they will never be totally independent.

Where does independence play into the government of God?  Although we begin any form of Life, spiritual and physical, as infants, we don’t stay there.  We grow into independence as we mature.  Our first parents were formed in this state of independence and maturity.  The only means by which they could maintain that mature independence was through their dependency on the government of God.  For as long as they retained Divinity as their sustenance, they were free to make independent choices within the context of the good quality Life God had created.  The Heart of God desired the free human to choose Life by responsibly caring for themselves and others.  Consequently the free human would rely dependently upon the sustaining Word that held all of creation together and revealed itself through creation.  We would always be in need of the Word spoken through others.  Furthermore, the free human would independently make responsible choices concerning how to apply the spoken Word that sustained all things to all things that were in need of our help to be sustained.  We would need and be needed because of the Word of Life that existed to hold all things together.

Some of us strive for total independence and others sloth into complete dependency.  It’s funny how we humans usually choose extremes.  However, God created us for both.  My independence, or ability to care for myself, allows me to be competent and capable of caring for others.  My dependence, or inability to care for myself, ensures that I will continually seek to connect with those outside of me.  Both conditions are necessary.  True maturity is recognizing where I am needed and where I have need.