Step Fifty-Four: Shekinah

Dear Readers,

I have had the benefit, through the years, of having an amazingly intelligent and wonderfully incredible woman as my mentor. I had the privilege of learning from her this word: "shekinah" or, when translated, "the holy of holies." The idea behind it in the Old Testament is that it is in the inner-most part of the tent that was the dwelling place of the Lord when the Israelites wandered the desert awaiting their time to enter the Promised Land. It was where God was. It was where He dwelt. It is her belief that the "holy of holies" is now within us as believers. We are, after all, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. I do not disagree with her but I would add something to her statement. I would assert that there is another part to this shekinah, a communal aspect. I would submit that true church is meant to be a new part of our shekinah.

I went to church last night, real church. I and my friend sat together in the middle of a basketball court and worshipped God. We worshipped Him with our laughter and with our tears. We worshipped Him in a way that was so authentic and genuine that words cannot even begin to describe.

We talked about love and what it meant to love someone. The choices we had to make but also the unity that intermingles with love. We also talked about hurt and pain. I have often considered myself to be a highly private person. Residing deep within, I keep my own sacred thoughts, those moments you treasure all to yourself, those words spoken for your ears alone to hear. Buried beneath these happier memories I keep the details of my wounds. The words that were spoken that pierced my heart, the dark memories that poison my soul. I realized, I hide these things because I am terrified of burdening someone else with them. I revealed this to my friend and she made a good point: if love is about unity then not allowing her to join me in this cemetery of wounds was not allowing love to be completed and as far as burdens go, love is never a burden, it is a joy. I allowed her to join me in my cemetery. I allowed her to hold me in my grief and sorrow. We both chose love last night. It was in that moment that I realized Jesus was there. He was sitting beside us. He had been the whole night. He laughed with us and He cried with us. This was the shekinah.

So here is my challenge: join somebody in their shekinah. Allow someone to join you in your cemetery of wounds. Choose love. And then after you have laughed and cried and existed wholly together, delight in His presence with you. Rest your heads together and smile for He is with you and that is exactly how life is meant to be lived.