Michael's Random Thoughts and Photos on Spirituality

T he line of Scripture that captured my imagination these past few days is found in our first reading from Samuel where king David says: “Here I am living in a house of cedar and the Ark of God dwells in a tent.” I wish that David had left well enough alone. The Ark of the Covenant contained the stone tablets with the 10 Commandments, a golden jar of manna which God provided for the hungry people, and the rod of Aaron which Moses used to bring water out of the flinty rock. It all represented the presence of God dwelling amidst the people and it was totally portable. I like that last characteristic the best. God moving with and among the people — I like a God who does this. David, of course, was King, a leader with an army, and powerful people like to use their power to build monuments and show their wealth in stunning visible ways. So, David is going to enshrine the Ark in a temple where none but the high priests could see and visit it — removed from the people’s presence. The...

       Look for the good whenever you can.  How often do we say to a friend, partner or some other family member, “Lets go out.”  We just want to get out of our house, or apartment; maybe we want to “step out of the office” or away from our desk.  Why do we want to “go out?”  Put in a rather severe way, we want to escape our bondage.  If you are feeling particularly imprisoned you might fly to Hawaii, or for some of you San Francisco.  For those less bound, perhaps a “day trip” to a local park or amusement park — and if you are having an Elvis Blue, Blue Christmas, off we go to the shopping mall.  There are a myriad of ways to go out. Our scripture readings reflect this wanting to go out.  In Isaiah, they want to go to the mountain of promise, which promises a freedom from the bondage of exile in Babylon, so they can return to their homeland.  In our reading from Second Peter, he is talking about looking forward to the...