He said, ‘My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.’” vss. 3-4
Genesis 18:1-4
The stories of Abram and Sarai were precious to our faith ancestors, and they took care to preserve them in the writings that became our scriptures. The people in the stories seem real to us, and their God encounters resonate with our own experience. In this particular story, the visit of the three men to Abraham and Sarah’s tent by the oaks of Mamre, we see a classic story of Middle-Eastern desert hospitality. Of course others have seen more. The Russian monk Andrei Rublev, in the early 15th century, based his classic icon, “The Old Testament Trinity” on these verses. For him the three angels were the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, gathered around a meal in perfect symmetry. For our part, what we do know is that our faith ancestors believed that God comes close in the course of our lives. These are holy moments, sometimes puzzling, but always times to be cherished and remembered. Often people are involved, the “angels unaware” mentioned in the book of Hebrews; at other times it might be a vision or a dream, or perhaps a song or moment of worship. But we would be foolish indeed if we imagined that in a world that is chock full of God to overflowing, there would not be multiple occasions when we might at least catch a glimpse.
Thought for the Day: Why are God encounters so often connected to eating?
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