Jacob in the Morning: Surely God is in this place

For this cold Sunday morning, I offer a retelling of a story from Genesis 28…a story that challenges us to consider that the holy is all around us — not merely in temples and churches, not only in sacraments and to the accompaniment of soaring music or while standing in inspiring places of natural or human-created beauty. The holy is where we are at any given moment of our day, if only we’re willing to look for God in that moment. Imagine Jacob, the morning after his dream:

It’s the “morning after” as I tell this story to myself, hoping that speaking it out loud will allow me to remember everything I experienced last night…

Yesterday afternoon, I left Beer-sheba and started walking toward Haran. I walked all day along dusty roads and paths and didn’t seem to be getting near to any place where I could stop for the night. Perhaps I made a wrong turn somewhere along the way. I was so tired. I really needed to rest. So I just stopped, this place being just as good as any other and the sun had set.

I needed to get off my feet. I dropped my walking stick and sat down. There was no shelter, no spot of grass, nothing soft to lie upon. So I lay down in the dust, my head on a nearby stone, my eyes staring up at the night sky, mesmerized by the light from the heavens, the half moon casting its subtle glow across the land as far as I could see. It didn’t take long before I drifted off to sleep.

Then I had the wildest dream. I saw a stairway, its landing resting on the ground not far away from me and its top reaching high into the heavens. And on the stairs, constantly in motion, were what could only be described as angels, although I have never seen angels before. But what else could they be? They seemed to be made of light, reflecting the radiance of what I imagine God to be.

And suddenly the presence of the Lord was standing right next me and a voice unlike anything I have ever heard said, as clear as day in the middle of the night: “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you are lying I will give to you and your descendants. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and through them you will spread to the west and the east, to the north and the south. In you and your descendants all the families of the earth will find blessing. I am with you and will protect you wherever you go, and bring you back to this land. I will never leave you until I have done what I promised you.”

I slept after that, but when I awoke I knew something very special had happened to me. Right here, in this place that is not really a place at all. Right here, in the middle of nowhere, I knew that God was somehow present. For God does not require special places in order to show up in our lives. God shows up right where we are, wherever we are, whether we’re ready or not, whether we’re asking for him to show up or not. God just shows up, if we’re willing to watch for him, if we’re willing to believe the dream and accept the vision as gift.

Sitting here in dust this morning, I am still filled with awe, wonder, and more than a little confusion. My heart is racing and pounding. I am both excited and afraid. I wonder what else this day has in store for me. What else will I see? How else will God show up for me today?

For this place…wherever we are…is nothing else but the house of God, the gateway to heaven and I must make sure I remember it. So I will take this stone and set it up high where everyone can see it. And over it I pour this holy oil and give it this name: Bethel, which means…holy place…the place where God lives.

This is Bethel. Right here. Right now.

Ask yourself in silence: Where did I experience holy today?