A Prayer Among Friends
by John Daniel
Among other wonders of our lives, we are alive
with one another, we walk here
in the light of this unlikely world
that isn’t ours for long.
May we spend generously
the time we are given.
May we enact our responsibilities
as thoroughly as we enjoy
our pleasures. May we see with clarity,
may we seek a vision
that serves all beings, may we honor
the mystery surpassing our sight,
and may we hold in our hands
the dirt of good work
and bear it forth whole, as we
were borne forth by a power we praise
to this one Earth, this homeland of all we love.
This was our closing poem at Poetry Vespers last night. Our theme was “God is Here, Now,” and our scripture was Solomon’s prayer of dedication of the newly constructed temple in Jerusalem.
King Solomon prayed, “If heaven, even the highest heaven, can’t contain you, how can this temple that I’ve built contain you?”*
And the answer to that rhetorical question is, it can’t. The temple cannot contain God. Nor can a church, a community, or even a religion.
God is transcendent, greater than anything we can conceive, above and beyond all our human constructions. But God is also immanent, here, present, now, all around us. Solomon’s prayer reflects this understanding.
The idea of a transcendent and also immanent God invites us to look for God all around us, in our neighbors and neighborhoods, in the beauty and sometimes scary majesty of creation, in the laughter of our friends.
The building of the temple was a significant turning point in the communal and religious life of the Israelite people, just as Grace Commons settling into a new worship space at St. James is. At moments like this, its a good idea to stop and pray, as Solomon did.
Let’s remember and remind each other that the most important thing is relationship–how we are with each other, with our neighbors, and with God.
May we share and serve with generosity, knowing that God is with us, both inside the building and outside of it. God is with us, both in the times when things are going well, and also in the times when we are challenged or feel lost.
God may be present with us in the church building, but God is not contained or confined. God is here, now. And God is also “there.”
~ ~ ~
Bible translation from the Common English Bible, a new translation from the original Hebrew and Greek.
I took the picture after Vespers last night, and I regret that I didn’t think to take it while all the people were sitting there. In my own defense, though, I did have other things on my mind…like Poetry Vespers!