Psalm 122
Historically humanity has been a people that place extreme importance on place. I have a place. You have a place. God must have a place. So we give God a place and decide where God is and where God is not. At the same time we speak of God being omnipresent, or in simpler language, that God is everywhere at all times. But if God is everywhere at all times then there is no need to go to a particular place to find God, we must merely see with new eyes, hear with new ears, sense with new senses.
Saying that is not to say that God did not give the people some particular places to worship. Indeed God commanded the building of the temple, and before that told the people that God's spirit rested in the Ark of the Covenant. Though God said those things I think it was for a greater purpose than to suggest that God could only be found in those places, after all God "showed" up in the midst of a non consumed, burning bush. The greater purpose was to give the people a sense of belonging to God, if a particular place could strengthen that bond then so be it.
And so, the people worshiped God in a particular place, but then with the death of Jesus on the cross there was an accompanying tear of the veil in the Holy of Holies, a symbolic ripping of the status quo that "freed" God from the confines of place. Yet, today we still call churches the house of God, with some understanding that each church is considered the house of God and if every church is the house of God then God is not contained inside a house, but it rather found in every corner of the world, the bright ones and the dark ones.
+ Where do you encounter God? in a church? in nature? in your home?
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