My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

[Adapted from “A Trick of Light” by Tony Chvala-Smith, Jan/Feb 2025 Herald, pp. 8–9]

The German theologian Rudolf Otto (1869–1937) would have understood this moment. In his classic book The Idea of the Holy, he probed the meaning of religious experiences of the sacred. Forgive me for using a few of his Latin expressions, but they voice what lay at the root of my memory. The Holy, Otto said, is the mysterium tremendum et fascinans: the mystery that causes us to tremble and yet insistently pulls us to itself.

When we encounter the Holy, there is an “overplus” of meaning, Otto said, an “extra” that attracts even as it threatens to change us. Otto coined a new Latin word to describe the Holy as it encounters us in the way: the numinous. Think luminous, but add the idea of something so indescribably, immeasurably good, that it transformingly rattles your core. It’s like Moses’ experience before the brilliance of the burning bush in Exodus 3: He can’t leave that encounter unchanged.

And that was exactly why I yearned to get to the reunion [at Blue Water Campground]. There for a brief time of what Jim Hannah called “togethering,” I knew our gathered lives would again light up with possibilities, reignited by an inextinguishable divine love that had touched all of us in varied ways. The light of that love drew us there.
(continued in tomorrow’s Daily Bread)

Prayer Phrase

“Do not be afraid, for I am your God…” (Isaiah 41:10).

Voices of God

What is the voice of God saying to us? Do we hear the whispers of God’s longing for shalom; God’s dream of beauty and wholeness for all creation? Do we hear the “voice” of God calling to us in faces and eyes, in the sounds of suffering and joy, in scripture and sacred word, in tears and laughter, in silence and noise? Spend a few moments reflecting on when and how God’s voice speaks to you. When did you first feel called to join God in the pursuit of peace and justice? How does the call of shalom continue to come to you through the many “voices” 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.