Observation: The prophet Ezekiel has a grand vision of God's glory and holiness from exile in Babylon. He describes what he sees as best he possibly can, given his frame of reference, comparing it to fire, amber, and rainbows. It's not hard to see how some readers, beginning in the 20th century, believed Ezekiel had an encounter with extraterrestrials. His account is not so different from the "close encounters" that seemed so widespread in the decades after World War II. Still, although Ezekiel has a hard time making sense of his vision, he has no doubt that he is in the presence of The Lord.
Application: Sometimes in reading the Gospels, and hearing the down-to-earth wisdom of Jesus and his intimate friendships with his disciples, we forget whose Son he is: indeed, the One whose nature he shares. Jesus encouraged us to pray in a simple way, as though we are approaching our own father for a conversation. And yet, the same one he called "Abba", or "daddy", is the creator of the cosmos, source of all existence, ground for all being. It's important to balance God's "imminence", the idea that God is indeed close to us and wants us to feel close to God, with God's "transcendence", the idea that God remains far beyond our grasp and understanding. Jesus encouraged us to pray, "Our Father," and so we do. But it's also important as we begin prayer to remind ourselves who that Father is, and stand in awe--or even fall on our face, as Ezekiel did--remembering who we're talking to. God is approachable, but God is also unimaginably big. We hold these things in tension. Yet we always have God's invitation: 'Stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you."
Prayer: God, you are awesome in the true sense of the word. You are beyond anything we can know or understand. Thank you for sharing yourself with us, even though we will always be learning, through your word, through the sacraments, through your community, and most of all through your Son Jesus. Amen.
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