Sunday, December 4, 2011

Where does God live?

I always delight in learning modern truths from ancient wisdom.  I was reading the torah portion about Jacob's ladder and found several profound modern lessons to consider.  Let me share them with you by interspersing my thoughts with each piece of ancient wisdom.

In Genesis 28, verse 11, we follow Jacob as he fled Beer-sheba:  "He came upon a certain place and stopped there for the night because the sun had set."   This sentence assures us that this was an ordinary place, it could be like the place in which you are currently sitting.

12: "He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky and angels of God were going up and down on it."  Notice the direction of the angels: they are going up first. This assures us that there are angels among us.  The staircase is a reminder that there is always a link between the spirit and the human realm, and with practice, we can be that conduit.

God comes to him and makes a promise to give him this land and to bless his offspring, and in verse 15, God says: "Remember, I am with you: I will protect you wherever you go."  What a beautiful blessing - it tells us that we are never alone, that God or Spirit or Angels are with us always, protecting our earthly journey.

Then Jacob awakens from his dream and exclaims in verse 16: "Surely the Lord is present in this place and I didn't know it!" (17) "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the abode of God."

Here is our modern lesson - God/Spirit is in THIS place - the place were you are, the place where you journey, everywhere you go.  God doesn't need buildings or cathedrals.  God/Spirit just needs us to awaken from our "slumber" and know that THIS place, wherever we are is sacred ground and we inhabit it with sacred beings, because we too are sacred.  How awesome is that!

Namaste and Shalom.

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