INSIDE THE BARRED GATE
Extol the LORD, Jerusalem; praise your LORD, praise your God, Zion. He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your people within you. PSALM 147:12-13
Supplementary Reading: John 20:19-30
“A picture is worth a thousand words is an axiom in multiple languages that complex and sometimes numerous ideas can be conveyed by a single still image, conveying its meaning or essence more effectively than a mere verbal description”.
( Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
But, no still image can stir human emotions like the verbal expression of the same subject. Every other attempt is impoverished by avoiding the common human endowment of the written and spoken word. Words are the better conveyor of the human spirit. For instance, a personal experience of mine finds reflection in the descriptive words of the Psalm writer’s expression above. It stirs a memory from my childhood. Our home was a large three-storey house surrounded by fences and stone walls, making a large garden where I spent untold hours climbing and swinging in the branches of an old apple tree. In particular, one feature in the Psalm writer’s memory of Zion, the Home of faith for all Jewish people, is the mention of a seemingly insignificant detail, a Gate with strong bars designed to protect all who enter therein. The memory of my homestead forever stirred by the words of this Psalm is the big barred wooden Gate that provided access to the main roadway. The Psalmist’s mention of ‘the bars of your gates’ and the protection thus provided for those entering Zion, is catalyst enough to stir my memories and speak to my soul. Those words convey something of the love and concern that made that place of my childhood feel secure and safe while preparing us for whatever awaited us in life beyond the protecting Gate.
Some years later in life. I became acquainted with the
” Ode. Intimations Of Immortality from Recollections Of Early Childhood” by English Romantic poet William Wordsworth. As time passed, this ode further confirmed my childhood experience and aided me in developing my faith in God.
Wordsworth wrote:
” Not in entire forgetfulness,’ and not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
from God, who is our home: Heaven lies about us in our infancy!”
And the Psalmist wrote: ” Praise your God, O Zion, for He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your people within you.”
I cannot tell you how many times I have gone back in memory to that garden of my boyhood with its barred Gate, or how many times I have drawn inspiration from the reassurances offered in Psalm 147; for I have done both, against the powerful backdrop of Wordsworth’s poignant reminder as quoted above.
In our faith journey, we all experience occasional challenges to consider whether our present faith is sufficient to deal with our situational complexities. Consequently, when earthly complexities are most severe is precisely the time for your private consultation with God in the privacy of your soul, where God waits to meet with you. The barred Gate stands to deter mental and physical distractions; You are, then, with the source of everything required to fulfil your life’s mission. Now there are but two, you and God, God and you!
It is noteworthy, above all else, that Psalm 147 portrays the sufficiency and the sheer beauty of faith in God. Although clad in the garb of Old Testament thought and imagery, it remains unrestricted in its powerful appeal and inspiring invitation. In reality, nothing is more important than for each person to preserve within themselves a secret space where at any moment, they can pass from time into eternity and be in company with the Divine, with God. It may be helpful to imagine that the Gate through which you enter into the presence of the Holy has bars shaped like The Cross, which reminds you of your relationship with Christ and your commitment to His ongoing Mission to the world.
A Prayer To Follow This Meditation
Father,
The breakthrough of memories is like the sun dispersing the smothering clouds to bring joy to weary travellers. So likewise, when yesteryear’s memories climb back into consciousness to enrich our present, we rejoice and praise Your Wisdom.
With confidence and joy, may memory bring us to look to the Rock from whence we were hewn and then seek from You the grace to continue to build an ever better tomorrow.
Save us, O Father, from the lukewarmness of spirit that treats faith as an add-on of respectability. Instead, grant unto us a fresh memory of disciples waiting in an upper room behind barred doors for the living Spirit of Christ to resurrect them, and define the Mission still intended for them and us.
“Life’s tumult we must meet again;
We cannot at the shrine remain;
But in the spirit’s secret cell
May hymn and prayer forever dwell.”
(Samuel Longfellow)
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, we offer our prayer. Amen.
HYMN: Go To The World (click on the link below)
oooooooooo
The photo is of Brigus United Church of Canada before renovations completely changed the appearance of the building.