Have you stopped to marvel lately? Sunday Readings Trinity Yr B (Y-not question the Sunday Readings)

by Sue, Sydney, Saturday, June 02, 2012, 01:18 (358 days ago) @ Ynot

Tonight I have been wandering around Circular Quay, looking at the play of light on the Opera House and other buildings. Enjoyable as that was, what I enjoyed more was the 'buzz', the crowds of young people, young families and older people enjoying a night out.  Yet that play of light that was Sydney's Vivid Light festival was nothing to that play of light we see every night and take for granted.  Sadly, for those of us who live in brightly lit cities, the night skies cannot be appreciated in the same way as in the country.

Now I am home, with a glass of wine, in memory of the one who proclaimed the closeness of the Kingdom of God - and some Leonard Cohen songs in the background - and reflecting on Tony's offering for this week.  But I find it difficult to go past the poetry of those beautiful words,

"Ask now of the days of old, before your time,
ever since God created man upon the earth;
ask from one end of the sky to the other:
Did anything so great ever happen before?"

That majestic poetry, to be recited and savored, treasured in the heart along with images of the night sky that it conjures up.  Just say it, let it roll and resonate.  It's like that bit that begins 'In the beginning was the Word.....'. So much beauty and resonance.  This is just the smallest, smallest glimpse of the Kingdom of God that is so close at hand.  And gazing at the night sky is another one, not just the brilliance and multitude of the stars, but the dark emptiness between, behind and beyond.  The mystery and marvel of it all.

And then Tony talks about Jacob wrestling with the one that would not reveal a name...And I am reminded that this story was important to me once.  It was permission to 'wrestle with God'.  Don't be afraid, wrestle with God if you want to enter into the Mystery.  There is a Sufi (?) saying that if God will not embrace you in love, then make him embrace you as a wrestler.  And Jacob showed the truth of that.

Enough for tonight, Leonard Cohen has just announced that he

'Studied deeply in the philosophy of religions, but cheerfulness kept breaking through'

Sue