A New Temple

With Pentecost this coming Sunday, I thought the following insight might be helpful.

A few weeks ago, I was reading one of Richard Rohr's email meditations when he got to talking about Paul's influence on his (Rohr's) faith. Humans being a temple for the Spirit is part of Paul's theology that has influenced him. Rohr pulls in part from N.T. Wright's two volume study on St. Paul in which Wright declares: the new temple of God is the human person.

Rohr writes:

On the day of the dedication of "Solomon's Temple," the shekinah glory of Yahweh (fire and cloud from heaven) descended and filled the Temple (1 Kings 8:10-13), just as it had once filled the Tent of Meeting (Exodus 40:34-35). This became the assurance of the abiding and localized divine presence of Yahweh for the Jewish people. This naturally made Solomon's Temple both the center and centering place of the whole world, in Jewish thinking.

This is the Temple that is destroyed when Israel is taken into Babylonian captivity. In Nehemiah and Ezra we read of the construction of the second Temple.  However, Rohr points out that the shekinah doesn't appear (ever) during the second Temple period. 

What do the disciples/apostles experience in the upper-room on Pentecost? Sounds to me like the shekinah entering them, they (we) become Temples.

This gave me such a new insight into Pentecost that I just had to share it with you.

Blessed be.
Joel

Cultural Differences

The other day, Bob at Boat Bits posted this delightful video. He was thinking in terms of different sailing rigs. I got to thinking about cultural differences. As a resurrection people, can we even function as before? Or even in terms of becoming people of the water rather than people of the land, how do we relate?
Enjoy. This really is delightful.
Blessed be
Joel

Concentric Circles Of Care

I've had some recent conversations regarding boundaries and caring for others. In essence what these conversations have boiled down to is this: how do I (as a caregiver, a pastor, a nurse, a friend, a ... etc) deal with my own issues and not bring them to bare (as a bear?) to the "person of need"? Most of the people, no all,  I've been in conversation with (myself included) strive to keep our own stuff in check. We all grant that we are not always successful, but we persist onward. 

Then my wife asked if I'd seen following LA Times article? I found the imagery so helpful I'm posting the link here: "How Not to Say the Wrong Thing." I hope you find this helpful as you continue to share your compassion with others.

Blessed be,
 

Joel