Can the Circle Be Unbroken?  Sara Carter askes, in the 1935 country Classic penned by her husband, A.P.Carter.  The Carter Family, from Maces Springs, VA, was discovered by Ralph Speer at the legendary “Bristol Sessions” in 1927.  They, along with Jimmy Rodgers, also discovered at Bristol in the summer of 1927, invented country music.  The Carter Family posted 25 hits between 1927 and 1938, but none as enduring as this one.  The themes are universal – the loss of one’s beloved mother, the realization of the fragility of life and family relationships, and the wondering if such relationships can endure.

            They can.  The Bible says so.

            Jesus, particularly in John’s gospel, speaks of the relationship circle between God, us and Him: I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you did send me.  (John 17.20-21)

            Jesus in God, God in Jesus, God in us, us in God, Jesus in us, us in Jesus – this is the unbroken circle.  There is another necessary element to this circle – that of sharing it with others.  The Apostles have shared the message with others, who in turn, share it with the world.  The circle is completed by sharing it.

            John begins his first epistle by celebrating this same circle: What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld, and we handled with our hands concerning the Word of Life…what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.  These things we write so that our joy may be made complete.  (1 John 1.1-4)

            The Joy Circle – sharing with God and with Christ – is made complete, made a circuit, by sharing with others.  John had an intimate relationship with Jesus.  It was a relationship that filled his senses.  It was a relationship of Joy.  It was an incomplete relationship, though, until he shared it with the reader.  The Joy Circle is not closed, not static.  To make a complete circuit it must become ever-widening, ever-including.

            We must learn this about our own relationship with Jesus: it may be a saving relationship, an instructive one, and a comforting one, but it is an incomplete one until it is shared.

            The circle can be unbroken.  It can be a circle of complete joy.  It can be this is it is shared.