Secrets
[The one] who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “[This] is my refuge and my fortress.” – Psalm 91:1-2a (NKJV)
Psalm 91’s words wow me: Dwell. Abide. Secret place. Shadow. Most High.
On the other hand, “Lord” is way too old fashioned. Consider the word in everyday use—“Don’t you lord it over me!”—and the Divine barely has a chance. Is God as Lord appealing in this psalm or threatening? These whimsically pious devotionals always want to use words to give the Divine, Ultimate, Supreme, Most High hostess with the mostest a chance.
Why does the Most High have secret places? Why do we have to be under a shadow? Aren’t we terrific? Aren’t we the mostest in our own lives?
Hyper-consciousness is the secret place of the human. Welcoming consciousness is the big secret of the Most High. We can dwell and abide in the shadow of this One—without having to be comfortable with transcendence, or secrets, or shadows. We can’t really know “It.”
That makes the scientist in me uncomfortable. It also soothes the seer. I don’t have to know or understand everything. Some mysteries may make us fonder of secrets, of what can’t or won’t be known, of what might be shadowed from our sight. Think Hubble Spirituality: 10,000 galaxies, 800 exposures taken over 400 orbits around Earth. We dwell and abide in the secrets of the shadow of the Most High, who chooses not to lord it over us. Instead, the Most High invites us to consciousness. Wow indeed.
Prayer
Quarky God, tell us your secrets. And if you won’t tell us your secrets, let us learn to be alive while knowing just a few of them. Amen.
About the AuthorDonna Schaper is an interim Pastor at the United Church of Gainesville, Florida, and author, most recently of Remove the Pews—first from your theology, then from your building.