Cocoons

Today's image is a striking one to me. The fullness of the union with God and one another expressed by Ephesians as the result of the gospel is not yet present in the world.  But at their best, churches can be little cocoons of what is to come; of what is God's will for this world.  Places where glimpses of that loving unity is witnessed and experienced, however incomplete, imperfect, and tenuous they may be.