The In-laws

There probably is a movie called The In-laws that you could get from netflix or redbox listed in the horror section  It seems that in popular culture substandard connotations are often afforded to the in-laws, and thats a shame. The word itself may strike fear into the hearts of men and women alike, in some cases, for good reason.  But others say my sister-in-law this or my father-in-law that with positive intimations.  We make many generalizations about our in-laws and attach positive or negative feelings towards them depending on the few days a year that we see them.  There is a saying: You can pick your friends but you cant pick your family.

In-law is taxonomy for the species of your genus. No, Im not cursing at you, I mean that it helps us describe who is part of our family and how they are related to us.  "In-law" sounds kind of harsh, dont you think? Repeat after me: in-law, IN-law, in-LAW, IN-LAW.  You are related to someone by law, by rule, by paper. No wonder such poor feelings can be harbored, it sounds horrible right off the bat.  Why dont we just say we are related on paper!

In the Christian faith we are all related.  We are related through that which is stronger then blood, God Himself.  While we are at it, everyone, regardless of belief is related through Him whether they know it, like it, or believe it.  In Roman Catholic tradition the community, during mass, stands to profess their faith where they proclaim their beliefs as one unit.  The word catholic means universal and it appears in the creed  when stating that "We believe in one, holy, catholic (note the small c), and apostolic church (a.k.a. the four marks). We are claiming the universality of we, Christs body. But not only in a Roman Catholic's creed is this professed, but in many other Christian denominations including the Greek Orthodox. Most would shutter at the word while never claiming to be Catholic, but only catholic (kind of like an in-law).  This simply means that we believe in one church, one body of Christ, made up of us, and under one head, which is Christ himself.

We are all called to be the body of Christ, He can only have one body, all of Christianity is part of His body, we are one, we are to be fruitful and multiply in many ways.  Jesus words "I thirst," while on the crucifix are words of passion for his people, passion for the body, passion for His Church. We are not asked to be in-laws with people, we are asked to be brother and sister.  Those words carry huge implications but are spoken to us out of the heart of God through the mouth of Christ.  God is our Father, and we have been given the privledge to call Him that.  Why must we attach names like in-law or step or ex or best to people around us.  Wouldnt it be nice to refer to one another as brother or sister in Christ rather than brother or sister-in-law. After all, Christ calls us brother, sister. Say it with me this time but say brother in Christ, sister in Christ, family in Christ.  It seems those negative feelings peel away when we approach the In-laws as In-Christs.

Have a great night bro, peace to you sis, hopefully we'll see each other at the table tomorrow!