In this edition I dig into the question, Where is God? It is more than just a theological question. The answer you hold may determine how your well-being merges with spirituality for everyday life.
A popular TV show depicts a set of twin brothers who remodel houses. They work to build unique “forever homes” which promise to always meet the needs of the family involved. However, with data showing that 10% of Americans move each year, these “forever homes” may not be as permanent as hoped!
Where does God live? In Judeo-Christian history the construction project of a divine house has been delayed, deterred, and disrupted across the centuries. In Psalm 11, ascribed to King David around 1000 BCE, the Tabernacle, a fancy tent many decades old, is described as the location of God’s presence on earth. The temporary abode was replaced in 957 BCE by Solomon’s magnificent house of stone in Jerusalem, bringing fulfillment of the conditional promise of God, to “dwell among the children of Israel.”[1] Inside each of these structures was an inner sanctum called the secret Holy of Holies. The famous Ark of the Covenant stood there, housing the powerful Presence of God. This Presence was so powerful it could kill anyone who touched it in a wrong way.
Let me continue this history lesson by fast forwarding to four centuries later, in 587 BCE, as armies obliterated the monumental temple and the people who defended it. Other attempts to construct a sacred place would follow, a checkered history of rebuilding, war, and desecration. In the time of Jesus Jewish life centered around the super magnificent temple build by Herod the Great. Jesus taught and debated there. But after Jesus died, the opulent Temple was completely destroyed in the Roman-Jewish War, incinerated with the entire city of Jerusalem on August 9, 70 CE.
Where do you think God lives? Do you think about God in some invisible, supernatural realm or in the soul of each person? Do you believe God is called to the Bread of the Eucharist by the Catholic priest or residing in the magnificent mountains of the natural world? Believers of all faith traditions love the structures built for God. France spent billions to rebuild Notre Dame. A church in Amarillo, Texas spent 50 million to build a four story multipurpose building with a gym, chapel, classrooms, and parking garage. The National Cathedral in Washington DC is the world's sixth-largest cathedral, featuring 112 gargoyles, 215 stained glass windows, with one holding a fragment of the Moon from the Apollo 11 mission.
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Could God be present outside of a physical building? The New Testament says the Presence arrived in a barn with a crying Jewish baby! This baby grew to the rabbi Jesus, who announced worship must be “in spirit and truth,” and denounced the merchants in Herod’s opulent Temple as creating a ‘den of thieves.” After his resurrection, the Spirit of God fell upon the faithful to shape a new society. These humble believers formed a community they called, “holy temple in the Lord… a dwelling place for God.[2] No flapping tent, sacred Ark, veils, or bloody altars would be needed. The Glory shone, not in a temple of stone, but in scattered homes, rivers, prisons, and urban markets, spreading from heart to heart like embers exploding from a wildfire.
The rebuilt Notre Dame, National Cathedral, or Thorncrown Chapel in Arkansas inspire worship, of course. Yet, what would life be like if people of faith built vibrant structures of love and faith, mercy and peace, humility and wisdom? Honestly, millions have left the institutions that have boxed God inside a cathedral rather than creating a society that collaborates with God to love and heal a hurting world.
The Jewish patriarch Jacob had a dream of a staircase to Heaven. He was in a strange land with a difficult journey ahead and found inspiration from the vision. When he awoke, he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!”
Your call to action is to discover God in your world, as close as your mental processes where God communicates with us. Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is within you.”[3] You are the image of God, more capable to embody the Divine Presence than any cathedral.
Misplaced theologies hoping for a rebuilt structure on a holy hill are useless. God has erected a holy people throughout the world as ambassadors and provocateurs! These faithful ones call God by many names, embodying the Divine in each act of love, mercy, and witness beacons, to a dark world of hope and healing. Working together, all can create a forever home, indeed!
[1] 1 Kings 16:13
[2] Ephesians 2:21-22 NRSVUE
[3] Luke 17:20-21
