ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
March 10, 2024
In Psalm 27 (the Message), we read:
When besieged, I’m calm as a baby. When all hell breaks loose, I’m collected and cool. I’m asking God for one thing, only one thing: To live with him in his house my whole life long. I’ll contemplate his beauty; I’ll study at his feet. That’s the only quiet, secure place in a noisy world, The perfect getaway, far from the buzz of traffic.
Too often, we approach a certain word with a preconceived idea of its meaning, yet Jesus spun old ideas back on themselves for the purpose of reinvigorating or reinventing them. Maybe it was because a spiritual practice had become too rote or empty, or maybe it had been co-opted by someone who had an agenda contrary to that of God. Whatever the case, it appears that Jesus wanted ancient spiritual ideas and practices to be understood as life-giving, not life-draining. I sort of wonder what ideas and practices we have allowed to become life-draining.
Call to us, O Holy One of the Silence. Engage us and reveal to us your healing presence—a gift made available as we quiet ourselves. Amen.
