God in the Empty Places

Have you ever stood in the Sanctuary of a church in the quiet, when no one else is there? To me, there is a special sense of God-presence in the emptiness.

Have you ever heard the phrase, "a God-sized whole" in our hearts? In our lives? A space -- an emptiness -- that only God can fill?

First read this, taken from Exodus 25:-22. This chapter of Exodus describes the building of the ark of the Covenant:

Then you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end; of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark; and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you of all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.

So picture the ark, with the two angels on each end, and the presence of God between them.

Keep that in mind, and read this from John 20:11-12:

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.

Do you see the similarity? Two angels -- one on each end of the emptiness in between. The "God-space."

I never would have noticed that comparison on my own. Lorna at see through faith pointed it out here, and if you want to read more about it, take a peak -- it's a good blog entry at Monastic Mumblings.

I remember watching the Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston as a kid. Pharoah is praying to an idol -- as I recall, a rather large statue that he considered to be a god. We don't worship idols. Our God can't be contained by a statue. He's so huge that he fills emptiness.