Separation is one of the hardest experiences of human life. We know it in the small and tender moments. One example happens in this back-to-school season. That emotionally difficult moment of sending a child to kindergarten for the first time. We know it later in deeper ways, perhaps when dropping a child off at college and returning to a quieter house than the one we once knew. Separation may come suddenly or gradually, The loss of a loved one physically or emotionally. Either way it leaves a mark. Memories fade, loved ones move into new seasons, and the past slips farther from our reach.
We are also separated from the future. We do not know what tomorrow will hold, how we will face what waits beyond the horizon, or how we will cope with what we cannot control. We want to slow time and protect ourselves from loss, but the clock remains undefeated.
Theologian Paul Tillich defined sin as separation: separation between people through broken relationships and harm; separation from one’s true self; and separation from God, from divine love and mercy. To be human is to experience separation in all these ways.
The Apostle Paul understood this. Writing to the church in Rome, he addressed a community facing deep division between Jewish and Gentile believers, along with physical suffering and violent persecution under Roman power. They endured hardship, distress, famine, danger, and the sword. It is no wonder they wondered if they had been separated from God or whether God had completely abandoned them altogether.
Paul’s answer is a resounding no. His tone becomes pastoral and celebratory. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” he asks. Through suffering, doubt, and separation, Paul insists that believers are more than conquerors through the God who loves them. Paul names the things we fear most: death, oppression, the unknown future, and anything else in creation. Yet his conviction is clear and triumphant: none of these can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If we can live with faith in this assurance and hold this truth deep in our hearts, then we may indeed be more than conquerors. Not because we must always be strong or resilient. Not because separation will not happen, or because it will not hurt when it does. Not because we will never doubt, question, or grieve. And certainly not because faith lets us skip merrily through life with a pollyannish attitude. But because — and only because — the one who loves us most has already conquered all. It is God’s love that makes us God’s own beloved children, one with Christ, sharing in his glory. And from this, nothing will ever be able to separate us.
— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Todd Hackman is senior pastor at St. John’s United Church of Christ in Monroe.
