Entering the Conversation

Every conversation resides in its own "world," so to speak, comprised of whatever has gone before it.  The conversation in every home, between every friend, or between husband and wife, is conditioned by all that has gone before it; every word we speak creates the space for the next conversation and colors what follows with certain meanings and feelings.

The world we enter in conversation is never "neutral," except at the very beginning.  The worlds we create with our words are worlds of fear, of hostility, or worlds of peace and joy, depending on what we say to one another.  We little recognize that when we speak, we are creating the worlds in which we will live forever.

When we enter someone's house, we enter the world they have made, the world they have created by what they have said to one another and how they have said it.  We immediately feel the "atmosphere" of that world.  Either their world is large enough for us to enter, or hatred and discord excludes us from finding a place therein.

When Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you, He meant the world He inhabits with His Father, their exchange of love, of joy, of peace, of goodness, of truth, of overcoming the world of darkness and evil.  That world is the one He invites us to enter with Him---but we can enter His world only if we can enter into the conversation, the universe, created by the exchange of Father and Son.  If our hearts are full of "excluding," of selfishness, our words will never fit into their world.  Jesus has entered into our narrow worlds to change our hearts and our conversations, in order to bring us into the eternal conversation of God Himself.