|
 |
The word essential has several meanings but they all stem from the word which is about the indispensable qualities of something or someone. When we say that something is essential we mean that it is vital and absolutely necessary. I have an essential relationship with my bank manager, I agree to deposit money with my bank and my bank manager agrees to keep it safe and make it available when I need it. In the days when the bank rewarded me for making my money available for the bank to use as it chooses, I was paid interest. That made my relationship more special, but not any more.
Special, on the other hand is about the quality of something or someone in relation to something or someone else. When we say that someone is special to us we are putting down a marker for a deeper and more meaningful relationship. All sorts of people are special to us. I met a lady earlier this week who was a godmother to our churchwarden. It was immediately obvious that there was a special and deeply loving relationship between them We have many people in our lives who are special to us, from our life partner or best friend to our favourite animal.
Of course some of these relationships are both special and essential. The relationship we have with our parents or with our children are essential if a family is to live together, sharing a common life and concerned for the well-being of each other. It is essential that someone in the family shops, cooks, cleans, brings home money to pay for things, etc. (not the same person!) All these things are essential ingredients for the building up of family life. What makes them special is the love that they contain.
At most baptisms we read the Gospel story of the Baptism of Jesus by St John the Baptist. For the purposes of the work of Jesus as he proclaims the Gospel, this baptism is essential. It signifies to the world that Jesus came with an essential purpose - to claim the world and humanity for God and to save us from everything in life and world that is not of God. At the end of the Baptism, the heavens opened and the voice of God the Father was heard, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased". These words show us the heart of the special relationship Jesus has with his Father. They are words of sheer love.
As Christians it is essential that we try to live our lives in Christ-like ways. It is essential that we worship God, pray to him, read about him Scripture, etc. What makes all that special and which defines our true relationship with God, is the love we put into it.
[Top]