Presence – TheoCité

One of the most important concepts of the religion of ancient Israel, and in today’s Jewish Kabbalah, is the concept of the Shekhinah (שְׁכִינָה), the Presence of God. After God gave the Torah to Moses and Israel made a covenant with God, God’s Shekhinah, his presence-glory, started to inhabit the Ark of the Covenant in the tabernacle. The Ark would come with Israel to battle, it would be the center of all worship festivals and rituals (the biggest community events), and it was the most sacred, cherished and protected thing in all of Israel. When enemies stole it, it was like complete darkness and defeat covered the land, a sense of abandonment by God, whose Presence has departed.

The Presence of God was what assured Israel of their importance, identity, and strength… Its departures and returns from the land marked the light and dark points in their history. What was the main reason why the Presence departed from Israel? The people becoming proud, ignoring the poor and the widow, and ignoring the afflicted. It was apathy, and greed for power and riches. In simple words, when love was absent, Love departed. Continue reading On Loneliness and Incarnation

(If you’re interested, here’s part 1)

I arrived from work and entered my house, saw a few lights on and assumed my roommates were at home. I enter my room, change clothes, go to the kitchen prep something to eat, go downstairs get my laundry done, come back to the kitchen, and realize that everything is a bit too quiet. I call their names, nobody answers. I am, after all, alone.

Next day, I come home and all is dark, I don’t hear a sound, so I turn on my music and sit down to relax for a bit. I cook something, wear something comfortable, all is so good.

“Hey man!”

The musical silence inside my head is broken; I am not alone.

Light and darkness, presence and absence. My experience at home is but a shade of the dance that is life with(out) God. Continue reading The God of Unbelievers #2: Absence