Monday, June 23, 2008
Hebrews 12:1
Fr. Stephen Freeman's most recent post (HERE) got me thinking about the epistle reading from yesterday’s liturgy. One part that stuck out to me was at the beginning of Hebrews 12 where we said to be “surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.” Christ is surrounded by the cloud on Mount Tabor, and we read in the Old Testament of when the cloud of God’s glory descended upon the temple. The cloud of witnesses who have gone on — what other cloud could they be said to inhabit but this cloud of glory which is the presence of God? How could we say that we enter the presence of the Living God and not also enter the presence of those who are with Him, and who, therefore, are always with us in this one “storey”?
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2 comments:
hmm. not sure that the "one storey universe" metaphor isn't the very anachronism that Fr. Stephen was writing against.
however, you're spot on in your connection between these texts in Exodus and Hebrews. The Cloud of the Presence about the Glory (which has been manifested to us in Christ Jesus) is composed of these witnesses, these "marturia."
Hmm back...
I'm sorry, I'm not following...the "one story universe" metaphor was something Fr. Stephen came up with himself in an attempt to teach against a compartmentalization of the cosmos into "secular" and "religious" spheres; how is that somehow anachronistic and self-defeating?
I've probably misunderstood you. Forgive me.
Thanks be to God that He, ever-present in this world, ever-permeating His creation, does not reveal Himself to us therein alone but rather as "Totus Christus: Caput et Corpus" -- The whole Christ: Head AND Body.
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