The Gate of Heaven
Scripture lessons:
Genesis 28.10-19a
Matthew 13.24-30, 36-43
“Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land;
For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Genesis 28.15
New Revised Standard Version
The sun had set, and Jacob found a place to sleep. Using a stone as a pillow, he drifted into the land of dreams. His vision of angels ascending and descending a ladder has been a popular theme for artists across the ages. But my attention is drawn to Jacob when he awakened: in rousing he wakes up to the fact that he had been surrounded by the vitality of God, and not known it.
Jacob called his dream-place “the gate of heaven.” And those gateways that lead to the sacred are all around us. One day we look into the eyes of our beloved, the same face we have seen for years, and suddenly realize the uniqueness and preciousness of the other person’s features. We travel the same road over and over, until one day our attention is drawn to the magic of trees in the late afternoon light, and we wonder why we had never noticed before. A biblical passage, heard countless times, suddenly shimmers with new meaning when seen from a new point of view, and the gate of heaven swings open.
“I am with you and will keep you wherever you go,” said the Lord to Jacob. Amid all the ordinariness and repetitiveness of daily life, the gate of heaven can spring open at any time, filling us with awe, inspiring us to live with greater commitment. May it be so for you.
Prayer: Gracious God, give us the vulnerability and awareness to discern your presence where we are least inclined to look and listen, until even the stones can be heard to whisper your promises and sing your praises; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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