One with Christ

I've been reading Eragon recently (as well as the following books, Eldest and Brisingr).

One of the main tenets in the books is the friendship between Eragon (the protagonist) and his dragon, Saphira. This friendship is based on a mental link between dragon and rider - so that Eragon feels what goes on in Saphira's mind, and Saphira understands all of Eragon's thoughts, as well. (And they can communicate through this link - by "thinking" their words to each other.) It is as if they are inside one another, actually (in a way) combined to be one being.

I've thought about this connection a lot. And I can understand that some of you reading this now may think that dwelling on such telepathy (even in a story book) can't be good. But it dawned on me the other day that the friendship between Eragon and Saphira pictures beautifully a relationship far greater.

When I first started reading Eragon, I thought how humbling it would be to have someone inside my head all the time - hearing all my thoughts and seeing all the images and whims of my mind. That person who was linked to my brain would know me better than anyone ever could dream of knowing me - and they would know who I really am. Without any gloss, and without any editing. And that would be scary.

The second thing I thought about having comeone inside my head, was that such a relationship would be (by its very nature) much closer than any "normal" friendship. Knowing someone in that way - being linked to them so irrevocably - would be...intimate. That person in my mind would actually be part of me. And I would be part of them.

And then it dawned on me. God hears all my thoughts. (Duh! We talk about this all the time! Somehow having a story-picture of it makes it so much more tangible.) He really knows me.

And He has sent His Holy Spirit to dwell in me. He is in my head! (And my heart...) I can know Him that way. Wow.

The analogy goes further. The same way that Eragon can build up barriers around his mind so that Saphira can't hear his thoughts - and the same way these walls also prohibit Eragon from hearing Saphira - so I can shut myself off from the Holy Spirit's grace (I have to choose to hear Him). The same way that Saphira and Eragon feel and understand the other's pain (as if it were their own), so He feels and understands my feelings. (He actually feels my pain! It's not just that He knows it, or understands it, but He actually feels it.)

It's easy for Eragon (or Saphira) to get distracted with what they are doing and not hear what the other has to say. It's easy to not be conscious of Another's presence inside of us. But I want to be aware.

He is here. Inside of me. He wants to be an integral part of me, and I of Him. So that my identity is forever linked with His. As one. Insepparable. I have this opportunity to be in Him, to know Him like I can know no other, if I listen. I don't want to miss it.

"At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in Me, and I in you." -John 14:20

"Abide in Me, and I in you." -John 15:4a