I am a big fan of National Geographic documentary films and have watched all of them that are available on Netflix, the subscription service that brings DVD’s right to the mailbox. There have been several documentaries made about flora and fauna in African and Asian deserts. I find it fascinating that the deserts can be hot as a furnace during the day and cold as an icebox at night. Living in a desert, be it animal or human life, means learning to cope with both extremes.
I don’t think it is an accident that the sacred writer speaks of the presence of the Lord as a cloud by day and as fire by night. God has promised to be with the children of Israel during their sojourn in the desert as they make their way to the Promised Land. What more could one want by way of protection than a protective cloud in the daytime and a warming fire at night when living in the desert.
The Hebrew for “glory of the Lord” is “shekinah Yahweh.” I find it fascinating that God’s presence in the midst of the children of Israel is described as the presence of God’s glory. While various sacred writers have written about the throne room of God in apocalyptic literature in the Scriptures, I find this description to be the most powerful and reassuring. God glories in being with us, God’s chosen ones. God’s glory does not reside in the mighty deeds of which we read in the Scriptures. It abides in the gift of presence.
Of course, we also know of God’s presence in our midst in the Eucharist. Under the humble elements of bread and wine, God dwells in our midst. According to the dogmatic constitutions of the Second Vatican Council, God is also present in the Scriptures and in each one of us. Throughout the process of self-revelation, God has chosen the humblest means of making sure that we realize God’s presence in our midst. God continues to dwell with us in our sojourn, our pilgrimage to the Promised Land of heaven.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator