Johannine Hours Psalm 13 March 1997 _____________________________________________________________________ The God of the Bible often reveals himself in situations on the fringes of human life. But one day, at the very heart of the life of God's people, a man had a vision. During a liturgy in the great Temple of Jerusalem, Isaiah saw the Lord as a majestic sovereign surrounded by his courtiers. God thus used familiar images to depict his holiness. And as always, the experience of holiness was something both attractive and frightening -- the encounter with a Beauty that unsettles human beings by calling them out of their routines. Isaiah's fear is translated into a feeling of unworthiness. "A man of unclean lips," he is not able to add his voice to the praises of the heavenly host. But admitting his weakness is enough, for God longs so deeply to communicate his holiness that he searches for the smallest sign of openness in his partner. The fire of God's holiness is a burning coal that can purify, a flame of forgiveness that makes a human being able to welcome God. With his lips now clean, Isaiah can go towards others in God's name and bring to his wayward contemporaries a beautiful and unsettling Word. Far from being a movement of separation or a treasure to be protected, holiness in the Bible is essentially an energy of communion, a "going towards" that makes those it encounters messengers of an unimaginable love. Do I discover God's presence just as much in ordinary life with others, for example in that of my local Church, as in exceptional experiences? Do I sometimes feel that I am not "up to the mark," not able to accomplish what God expects of me? How then can I remember that "whatever God asks, at the same time he gives"? What is God asking me to communicate to others, and by what means? Where can I find the strength to do it? Taize Community http://www.taize.fr info@taize.fr ----------------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/taize/johannine: jh9703.txt .