Friends, the onset of the coronavirus and the subsequent restrictions it has placed on all our lives has left me with some time, and a deep inclination, to do some writing beyond Sunday sermons. Below is the first fruits of those particular labors, and I imagine there will be more to come. I find crafting them into words helps me nail down my thoughts and feelings, so this is a attempt to do that for the myriad things running through my head about this pandemic.
This piece is directed to The Chapel of the Cross and was distributed to them this week, but the message might also be applicable to you in your context as we all suffer this time of exile and try to stay together while being apart.
Peace be with you all,
Noah+
In this time of exile:
A Reflection by The Rev. Noah Van Niel
As many of you know, at The Chapel of the Cross we have a group of parishioners who are reading the entire Bible across this program year. This week they have made it to the end of the Old Testament. This is no small feat, and those who have endured deserve to be commended. These last weeks have been spent in the books of the Prophets—the big names like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and the smaller ones like Hosea, Haggai, and Habakkuk (among others). As we have been reading them, it has become increasingly clear that the most formative historical event for many of these prophets was the Babylonian Exile of 586 BC, when Jerusalem was conquered by the armies of King Nebuchadnezzar and the people of Israel were expelled from their homeland, sent into exile, and separated from their community. As part of this exile, the Temple, the central locus for communal worship and religious practice, as well as community and religious identity, was destroyed. This was utterly devastating for the people of Israel on every level. Their understanding of their relationship with God as the chosen people crumbled along with the walls of His holy house. Because who were they if they weren’t in the Promised Land? Who were they if they were not able to gather as a people? Who was God—where was God—if not in the Temple?
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