The popular television series Lost has captured the imaginations of over 16 million viewers. It portrays the amazingly interwoven lives of those who survive the crash of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 on a remote and mysterious tropical island. The ongoing drama is based in part on the theory of centrality, or "small world phenomenon." Originally expressed by Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdøs, the theory and its terms were launched into the everyday lexicon when American playwright John Guare wrote his play, Six Degrees of Separation (1990). The idea is that, if a person is one step away from each person he or she knows and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people he or she knows, then everyone is an average of six "steps" away from each person on earth.

There can be no such "theory of separation" in the Body of Christ. Believers in Christ of every time and place are far more closely and wonderfully connected to one another than we can ever fathom. "You are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). The mystery is too deep for our minds to grasp. In Christ, we meet people who are already brothers and sisters to us in the one family of God, the "one, holy, Christian and apostolic Church," as confessed in the Nicene Creed. In Christ, we are never lost and never alone. As fellow redeemed sinners, our prayers carry and support one another. We know the fellowship of the crucified, risen, and reigning Lord. In Christ, it is an understatement and banal to say, "It’s a small world after all," for we belong to one another by an amazing grace that has united us with Him and, in Him, to one another. This is a reality both to be believed and experienced.

I was privileged to serve on the Board of Directors for LFL these past five years. It has been my joy to work closely with brothers and sisters in Christ in the one mission, message, and manner that define this ministry. Working alongside richly and diversely gifted people in one spirit of endeavor together has seemed to me a foretaste of heaven.

As in any organization, the Board traffics in subcommittees and task forces, periodic performance reviews and reports, analysis and planning, agendas and minutes noting decisions made. But it also devotes its attention to the study of the sacred Scriptures, prays and worships together as occasion permits. Our work calls forth the best each has to offer. And each is needed.

Today, as I prepare for a new ministry and a new adventure, I am struck anew by the rich tapestry of intimate and familial interconnectedness in our Savior. I have been raising support in order to teach systematic theology the next two years at Matongo Lutheran Theological College for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya:

www.projecttimothy-kenya.org

I know again the joy of interdependence and our interconnectedness and that none of us acts or serves alone.