February 2nd is traditionally set apart to remember the day that Jesus was carried to the Temple by his parents for his dedication. I find it interesting that Groundhog Day is the same day, for both express an unveiling of sorts as to what could happen in the days ahead.
There’s a great juxtaposition in the story of Jesus’ presentation. There’s probably a good chance that Jesus’ poor parents had trouble purchasing the two pigeons required for the offering, yet they held the priceless gift of salvation in their arms as they made their journey to worship. Salvation was closer to the poor and uneducated rather than the rich and elite class of Israel.
We tend to look outside of us for help in confusing times and the current day is no different. We tend to look up higher for someone “up there” to take care of us “down here.” The presentation day narrative from Luke 2 retrains our salvation-seeking ways: we need to look down and around for help, too.
An extra-biblical source, The Acts of Peter, conveys a similar idea,
“Unless you make what is right left, and what is left right, what is above into what is below, and what is behind into what is in front, you will not learn to know the Kingdom.”
To this end, I’ve begun to use different language as I pray in order to help my salvation-seeking pursuit. Instead of just praying “God Almighty,” I’m not choosing to say, “God among us.” Along with praying to “the King of Kings,” I am praying to “the Humble King.” I can already tell that this type of identification with God is causing me to see the world differently.
In an era where we frantically “troll” and “scroll” we need to come up with some better practices to search for answers, for help. For the most part, trolling and scrolling make us act sub-humanly. Being present and attentive to all, whether it is a short conversation in line at Publix or a phone call with someone we haven’t heard from in some time, helps us re-negotiate with the world around us and it helps us to see the signs pointing toward salvation that we’ve overlooked and missed.
What do you think? Could we all entertain the idea that sacred moments can be in disguise among the common elements of life? It’s worth taking a look, I’d say.
Joe Skillen 