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Primitive religion is not believed, it is danced!

Arthur Darby Nock

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
And only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

Elizabeth Browning



Friday, January 17, 2020

an object lesson in love


There are things you can’t reach. But
You can reach out to them, and all day long.
The wind, the bird flying away. The idea of god.
And it can keep you busy as anything else, and happier.
I look; morning to night I am never done with looking.
Looking I mean not just standing around, but standing around
As though with your arms open.”
                                          Mary Oliver
__________________________________________

I have decided God is a visual
Yeah, I know, there is that whole “word of God” thing

God spoke
God spoke
God spoke

But what happened when God spoke?
There was light
And land
There were oceans and mountains and streams
There we fish, and animals, and birds

And those strange creatures
Image bearers
Us

God spoke
And the “Word became flesh”

It seem as if whenever the Sacred
Really wants to make sure we get the point
Sacred gets visual

Creation
The parting of the seas
Manna from heaven
Pillar of cloud, pillar of fire

That tent!
A symbol and sign that God was
“tenting” among the people
The ark of the covenant

Over and over again God shows up
In signs and wonders
Gideon and the fleece
The wind!
The earthquake!
The still small voice

The altar and the prophets of Baal

Then there was Jesus
And that whole manger thing!
And the baptism in the Jordan

Jesus teaching
And using visuals
Water into wine
Fish and loaves

Jesus and the cross
God showing us what sacred love looks like

When God speaks, things happen
When God is present, we not only feel the love
We see it

Which should say something to us
James got it

That faith
Is a pretty meager thing if it does not become
Visible
If it does not show up in how we talk
How we give
How we forgive
How we care
(faith without works is dead)
This is not about merit
It’s not even, really, about us

It is about what God, working through us
In a grace full way

Looks like

And I think the fact is
When we have awakened to Sacred Presence
When we have set aside ego enough
When we have set aside our priorities and agendas enough
(when we have died to self)
so that God has room to work

God shows up

People are looking for the Sacred
They are looking everywhere
With arms wide open

They are looking for the Sacred in the sunrise
In the beauty of the earth
They are looking for it in sacred tomes
And in times of silence, and times of prayer

And they might well find the Sacred in all those things
But they should also see the Sacred in us
for we are God’s workmanship
we are God’s art

we are meant to be
A sacred object lesson
In love

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