What do you think Matthew Kelly means by "dynamic relationship" with Jesus (pg. 16). What might that look like?
When a relationship becomes stagnant it looses its vigor. Once it looses its vigor it deteriorates. Slowly falls apart. Our Lord Jesus said I am the vine you are the branches. The vine-branch relationship is not static, but dynamic. Every second it changes-grows. Our life situations are very dynamic. Jesus said that we can do nothing without Him. To handle our "dynamic" life situations, we need a dynamic relationship with our Lord Jesus.
Well said, Deacon. That's very much the avenue I was considering. Dynamic is a word from the Greek meaning "powerful", as in a force that produces motion. Its opposite, static, would be to simply stand still. Both do contain energy, but in the form of the static it is a singular experience, much like the static electricity one produces on a carpet in the winter; it has a certain charge to it, but it is found only in the one experience in which you come in contact with it; it is designed to exhaust its ability in one spot. The dynamic relationship on the other hand, flourishes just as the relationship between the vine and branches. There is an energy that interacts between the two which help it to grow. So long as the branches receive the energy (potential) fed them by the vine, the relationship is a relationship of growth. This example plays itself out in the example of electricity as well. While it may be possible to generate enough static electricity to power a radio, it will only be a singular burst, whereas if you plug the radio into a dynamic source, such as an outlet, the radio will play your favorite songs all day long if you like. Each of us, when in a relationship would not consider the pinnacle and completeness of our relationship to be in the singular burst of the initial instance, going no further, but to have a good relationship is to constantly wish to know the other, and to know the other more deeply.
