I think we've lost the art of altar making. Everywhere you look in the Old Testament, someone is making an altar. My favorite? I Samuel 7:12. Samuel builds an altar and names it Ebenezer which means: hitherto the Lord has helped us. For what it's worth, our coffeehouse is an altar to God. That's why we named it Ebenezers.
Altars mark significant moments in our spiritual journey--those "hitherto the Lord has helped us" moments. They symbolize the faithfulness of God. And they help us remember what God doesn't want us to forget.
My office is filled with altars. I have about two dozen spiritual mementos that symbolize defining moments in my life. They may not be stone altars like most of the OT altars. But they capture so much of who I am and what I believe.
All of that to say this: we continue our ritual series this weekend talking about what I think is one of the least practiced rituals: altars.
Altars mark significant moments in our spiritual journey--those "hitherto the Lord has helped us" moments. They symbolize the faithfulness of God. And they help us remember what God doesn't want us to forget.
My office is filled with altars. I have about two dozen spiritual mementos that symbolize defining moments in my life. They may not be stone altars like most of the OT altars. But they capture so much of who I am and what I believe.
All of that to say this: we continue our ritual series this weekend talking about what I think is one of the least practiced rituals: altars.
2 Comments:
I think Protestants have an idolatry allergy that makes us look suspicious at things that might be altars in our lives. I have many things that have spiritual significance to me, but I never thought of them as altars - but now I will!
Hi Mark,
I am a teacher at a Christian School. Every spring I have my students build an altar to the LORD in the woods. They love it. Blessings!
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