I am not a big fan of spiders. In fact, they creep me out incredibly. I know, in my rational mind, what an important role they play. If it were not for spiders we would be up to our belly buttons in creepy crawly things. Yet, there is still something about them that makes me very uncomfortable.

As creepy as spiders are to me, I am fascinated by their webs. The intricate way the strands are woven together and connected at various points to the grass or branches creates a highly personal, albeit functional, work of art every time.

Early morning web

One morning as I pondered a dew covered web I thought about all the connection points both in the centre of the web and out on the fringes. They are a good parallel for our lives. We all have people that we are connected with, some more closely with others.

In fact I once read that there are only seven degrees of separation between all the people on the earth. Now I am not certain is seven is fully the correct number but it is a valid concept. Each one of us touches the lives of others. In effect our web connects to their web. Our web is a degree of separation, or a circle of influence. It includes people we know well and those that we simply encounter now and then such as the clerk at the local market.

We know them, someone else knows them and someone they know is known by yet someone else again. By the time the circle has expanded to cover all the possibilities we have encompassed everyone in the world. We simply are not all that far apart from one another. I have encountered it repeatedly in my travels. I will meet someone half way round the world and find that somewhere we have people in common.

That is both good news and bad news. The good news is that we can soon establish common ground of some sort with everyone in the world with a little effort. The bad news is that you never know who is watching your faith walk and whose life you are influencing. I guess that is only bad news when we are not walking close to the Lord, it can be good news when we are walking closely with Him.

As believers we need to strive to walk as closely to the way Jesus did as possible.

John 13:34-35 NIV
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

In fact Jesus even prayed for our unity so that the world would know

John 17:20-23 NIV
"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Until next time remember that we are all connected and someone is watching.