How good and pleasant it is
when brothers live together in unity!
2 It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron's beard,
down upon the collar of his robes.
3 It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the LORD bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore. Psalms133:1-3
(I'm going to stretch a premise this morning, but bear with me - I think you'll agree when I'm done...)
When the creed indicates that God is the "Maker of Heaven and Earth," it is affirming that the totality of creation is a gift from God.
But the totality of creation isn't simply the physical part of creation... Because we are made in the image of God and have His Spirit breathed into us, we also have relational, emotional and spiritual dimensions that are part of creation.
In many ways modern society has inherited Greco-Roman thinking that was analytical and dis-integrative in its world view. We have tended to see life as separate dimensions. We separate physical and spiritual, we distinguish between "sacred" and "secular" and we compartmentalise life. We live life out of tune with nature and our artificial environments leave us out of sync with the seasons and the rhythms of day and night.
Hebrew thinking (the language and mindset of the Old Testament) was integrative in its approach to life. Life is a whole (a "SUM of parts") and not just "some PARTS."
This psalm captures this reality beautifully - the Psalm talks about relationships between people, the blessing of God, the physicality of anointing someone with oil (it can be messy) and the phenomenon of dew that usually falls on Mount Hermon in the North occasionally falling in Jerusalem.
The Hebrew blessing "Shalom" (Peace) means implies wholeness, togetherness and integrated-ness. It means the celebration of Heaven AND Earth. That ALL of life is a gift - our bodies, our time, our seasons, our relationships and our physical world.
The well-loved Welsh preacher Granville Morgan once preached that God's favourite word is "AND": God made heaven AND earth, moon AND stars, flowers AND animals, birds AND fish, you AND me. Life is a glorious gift and it's bounteous Creator should be recognised as the God is is Lord of ALL and God over ALL. And that His blessing is pronounced "Shalom!"
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Theo Groeneveld theo @ emmanuel.org.za
