By Dave Brock of Redmond, Oregon, USA
Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it…. How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.
We were Community of Christ leaders from China, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Fiji, Nepal, India, and the U.S.A. Gathered on the outskirts of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, in southern India, we engaged in training, worship, and companionship at the Pillar Institute of the Catholic Church. From varied backgrounds, yet united by principles held in common, we grappled with how to faithfully follow Jesus in eastern cultures where Christianity is a minority religion.
One afternoon we hiked to a rock outcropping in the Samanar Hills—an ancient dwelling of caves and rock-cut temples of the Jain religion. Dating back to the first centuries of the Common Era, Jainism is still practiced today; still embodying the principles of non-violence, truth, and asceticism on which it was established.
As we examined sculpted shrines and walked through the cave-like dwellings, I lay down on a human-shaped bed carved into a granite slab. I closed my eyes and wondered: “What would it have been like for those Jain monks who, through almost two millennia, stretched out on this same bed “to sleep—perchance to dream”?
Lying face up, head resting on a slightly raised “pillow” carved into the rock, I let the voices of my colleagues fade to whispers, let the place and its ancient peoples mingle with the present in that Kairos moment— “a time when God acts.”
In that posture, I remembered Jacob’s words from early Judaism: “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it…. This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” Sometimes the gates of heaven open in extraordinary circumstances—another country, another culture, another faith tradition, another medium, another millennium. More often, however, the gate, the house of God, is an ordinary place. We stand on a street corner in our hometown, we hear a word from a colleague across a lunch counter, we lie on a pillow on our own bed and a Voice speaks or a silence pervades, and we are called to follow, to act.
Prayer Phrase
“For in him all things…were created…” (Colossians 1:16).
The International Community
Find (or imagine) a globe or map of the world. Look at all the nations and find a country other than your own. Notice the geographic distance between your homeland and this one. Picture a person living there. Pray for this person. Sense God’s love connecting you just as the oceans connect the continents. Thank God for the spiritual connection you have with all of God’s people around the globe. Ask a blessing on the church as a community sharing Christ’s peace, drawing all into the family of God.
Today’s Prayer for Peace
Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.