There
is one thing I ask of the Lord.
For
this I long:
to
live in the house of the Lord
all
the days of my life.
—Psalm
27
(From the Vigil prayers for the Feast of the
Epiphany)
The energy of prayer can fill
not only the space set aside for it, but an entire house, and out into the
surrounding neighborhood and the cosmos beyond. We sense when this happens and
can say with all sincerity that we live now and will live always in the house
of the Lord.
This is a constant theme in
the Psalms because many dangers awaited the singer outside the Lord’s tent. The
journey to the safety of the temple was long and arduous, as is the life
journey for each of us. We see this reflected in T. S. Eliot’s poem, “The
Journey of the Magi.” The journey can be long, the weather sharp, the trek
punctuated with regrets and misgivings that the trip could be folly. And yet,
in the end we have arrived at our destination, bearing such gifts as we have to
offer, here at the small house where the babe rests in the arms of his mother.
We know now that our wish has
been granted, that we may remain in this sacred space until our days end,
acolytes in the temple of the Lord.
-- John
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