God Enters our World

I just finished reading a book titled "Who Gets to Narrate the World" by Robert E. Webber.  In one of the many great thoughts in the book.  Webber writes, "In almost every religion the quest is to find a way to transcend the pain and suffering of life, and get connected with the powers of the other world that will help us endure this world...But in these religions we never hear that God himself has entered our history and our suffering to redeem us for life in this world."  I've been reflecting a lot on the incarnation, the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us.  Or as the message translates it, "...moved into the neighborhood."  I don't know about you, but I think that sometimes I treat God like the "other religions" that Webber describes, who try to connect with a God who is far off so I can get through the pain and suffering of life.  Instead, I should be continually looking to God who came to us to redeem us for life in his world.  A God who is not some far off distant being waiting for us to get to him, but a God who comes to us.  A God who is living and active in the world he created and redeems.