God so near
“For what other great nation has a god so near to it
as YHWH is to us?”
Deuteronomy 4:7 The Inclusive Bible
The ancient Hebrew people lived and thrived in the reality of God so near. As native people, they pictured each person uniquely knit together by God within their mother’s womb.
The earth itself was seen as God’s baby, intimately connected to mother God by an umbilical cord at Mt. Zion. God was ever present. God shepherded people by going ahead of them in a cloud, provided daily manna in a barren wilderness and water from a rock.
At a trembling mountain, the people heard God’s voice offering a covenant of blessing and the terms needed to keep it so they could be a blessing to all people. When the people kept their covenant with God, they prospered. When they focused on their wealth and forgot the terms of the covenant, God seemed far away. And their nation declined.
Our country was also founded on the wisdom of God’s nearness, truth and justice. But as its focus shifted to wealth, awareness of God’s nearness was replaced by lies, injustice, poor stewardship of the earth — and the feeling that God is far away, uninvolved in daily life. Without awareness of God’s nearness, decisions follow the money trail and have led to growing inequality.
Perhaps, before it’s too late, the human family can renew awareness of God so near — above, beneath, around and within – and heed the wisdom of a Cree Indian proverb: “Only when the last tree has been cut down, the last fish been caught, and the last stream poisoned, will we realize we cannot eat money.”
The reverend Celia M. Hastings has a masters degree in religious education from Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan. She is author of “The Wisdom Series” and “The Undertaker’s Wife.”
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: God so near
