Daily Readings: Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; 2 Samuel 7:1-17; Galatians 3:23-29

“Now when the king [David] was settled in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, ‘See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.’” 2 Samuel 7:1-2

David wasn’t an ordinary dreamer. He who had nocturnal visions of slaying giants had the kind of dreams that stretched the elasticity of what’s possible.  Here with the prophet Nathan, he’s lamenting the living quarters of the Ark of the Covenant, the holy treasure that defined, even embodied, his people’s relationship to God. The Ark was residing among tent curtains flapping in the desert wind, lugged about by nomadic Jews like a piece of luggage. David wanted the Ark to have a permanent home, one fit for a king.  

Nathan foresaw that the temple project would not be realized in David’s lifetime. The timing just wasn’t right. But David kept the dream alive and passed it along to his son, Solomon. From historical accounts, we surmise the temple that Solomon built was an awe-inspiring triumph of the imagination. The Ark of God had a beautiful new home. 

Today, we are fortunate to be a ble to visit such monuments to dreamers’ imaginations. For those who have crossed the thresholds of Gothic-style cathedrals such as Notre Dame, Chartres, St. Peter’s, Canterbury, or our own National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., we feel a visceral rising of the spirit as our eyes track high up fluted marble columns toward ribbed, vaulted ceilings. The stunning stained-glass windows nearly bring us to our knees in wonderment. Airy choral notes lift high on incense as a prayer, echoing in the vast reaches of the emptiness above. The sheer brilliance of architectural design and engineering prowess embodied in these holy structures are a testament to an unbounded spirit of boldness. Here in Santa Fe, the beautiful but more earthy Romanesque Cathedral of St. Francis, named after the city’s patron saint, was the daring brainchild of a French parish priest, Fr. Jean-Baptiste Lamy, who became the first Archbishop of Santa Fe. 

Rainier Maria Rilke wrote a poem about daring the spirit to dream large, to live life to the hilt, to take this gift of life seriously. The poem is from his Book of Hours.

God Speaks to Each of Us

God only speaks to us before we exist,

Then walks quietly beside us,

But the words, the cloudy words

We hear before we begin our lives,

Are sent forward into the world by our senses:

“Go to the edge of all your desire to make sense.

Be the clothing that gives me form. 

Standing behind the world of things,

Make yourself a flame

So that the shadow widens,

Always including me completely.

Let everything happen to you,

Terror and beauty.

You’re only required to go forward,

No feeling is unnatural.

Don’t let yourself be separated from me.

We have almost arrived

In the land they call Life.

This you will perceive

By how serious it will feel.

Give me your hand.”

Translation by David Keplinger

Offered by Bryan Fredrickson, in whom God delights.