From the balcony of our fifth-floor condo unit, I watched as the eighteen year-old girl with us walked down to the beach Saturday morning. It was early and the sand, in every direction, was void of the mass that would occupy it soon enough. Nevertheless, she circled the entire area as if, given this vast stretch of waterfront acreage all to her herself, there was just one spot in particular, one minute, pristine, fashioned-to-her-liking portion that was designated her private property. It reminded me a bit of how some within the church community tend to claim some certain pew, getting disgruntled if a visitor should happen to access it before they do. I’m currently reading “The Holy Longing” by Ron Rolheiser, though; and his Catholic perspective has my Pentecostal experience pondering the schematics of this “point of connection” given us through Christ, for me an “appointed rendezvous” to which I must return again and again on a regular basis, a location where reassurance waits for me to recapture, a place where grace is made more than just a Biblical term. This author surprises me, his theology assigning to every believer an “incarnation”; but, while referring to a “divine power” abiding within us, the true source of any good that we do or say, never hands to such deity control of such works. Supernatural flow is made to seem a 24/7 part of one’s life, a force set in action by an individual’s own outreach. If my bunch, however, prefers the word “anointing”, recognizing the need to step into His presence, it yet remains that we are quick to label anything and everything as fulfilling the condition. Humanity never leaves us, of course, regardless whatever ecclesiastical tag we pin on our lapel. Like Kylie, though, I seek an appointed place. This “position of merger” isn’t exclusive. It’s there for all to encounter, for any who thirst; and it makes all the difference “in the world” (no pun intended) when He, not just me, is the manifestation of God’s love…..
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