Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Then Solomon said, ‘The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.’”
NL Daily Devotion for Tuesday, November 1, 2022
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
I suppose God has to dwell in darkness because God is too awesome and terrible to look at. But as I read this today, in the midst of some personal struggles, it struck me as something completely different. We often speak of how we are God’s temple, God’s dwelling place. God live in each and every one of us, thus we are exhorted to take care of our embodied selves in honor of God (and ourselves as God’s beloved creations).
And isn’t there, sometimes, whether we like to think about it or not, some darkness in us—a dense cloud that obscures our best selves? Or maybe a self-created cloud that we use to cover up our worst selves so we don’t have to look at them? I’m not certain, except that in the moment, I feel like there is something negative hovering over my thoughts and feelings.
But here’s the promise—God still lives in me. God dwells in the thick smoke at the center of my being because and in spite of me. God loves this home God created and longs to fill it with light, with clarity, with joy, love, and peace. And God’s presence, whether or not I’m aware of it, is balm.
What does it mean to me that I am a dwelling place for God?
