Of Bears and Penguins

Advent Day 4 - And the glory of the Lord:

And the Glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and the flesh shall see it together for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

A couple of years ago, I got to take a trip out to Utah with a group of friends. I got the chance to go canyoneering because I had happened to fall in with a group of people who had a lot of know-how and gear. Two of them led outdoor adventures for the day job, so it really was good company.

We trekked into the country around Moab, Utah. We repelled into a sheltered place that instantly made me think of a cathedral. Then we repelled by a natural bridge, and climbed back out of the canyon.

While we were resting, I sat down next to a good friend who had rustled a little hunk of earth for himself in the cleft of a rock. I don't know if Southern Utah bears any resemblence to the Holy Land apart from the Biblical name of Moab, but the view of rock towers and spires, of space vast filled our eyes as we sat together in the cleft of the rock. We didn't say anything to each other, just took in the space. It felt a lot like sitting in church, just being quiet and letting the spirit wash over you.

At any rate, the view of that desert, and the privileged view I had of it from the rough hewn rocks of a canyon wall have stayed with me, and they make me think of Moses. Of how the Lord, because He was pleased with Moses, put him in the cleft of the rock and covered him with the Lord's own hand so that Moses would be safe.

I think that when the Lord put His hand over the cleft of the rock that there was such warmth and sweetness that came from it, that Moses tried to breath it all in at once. I can picture so clearly the Lord's hand lifting, and Moses peering from the shelter at the back of the Lord's glory.

I picture something that must have seemed to Moses like a robe, a swirling richness of bright colors, of rich textures worthy of the Holy One. I think Moses' jaw must have dropped in awe and wonder, his hands on the rock walls on either side of him to steady himself. He watched until all those colors, and all that richness filled the entire plain before him before passing over the horizon, and then Moses took a breath.

And Moses whispered in his heart, "My God, I will follow your glory anywhere, just to glimpse you once more."

Maybe the Magi who followed the star in the East felt the same way, that for just the merest glimpse of the Glory, any journey would be worth the difficulty. Maybe that's how Peter felt after the transfiguration, or Paul after His conversion.

I know it is how I feel sometimes. I remember the times when I have most clearly seen the Lord in my life, the times when He has pulled back the curtain a bit and let me see more clearly, and I remember that my heart has been stilled in wonder, and that I have know that just for another glimpse of Him, I would go anywhere.