There is an idea in Celtic Christian thought about the “thin veil,” that the presence of God is there before us, behind us, all around us – veiled by only the thinness of our attention. It has been that way since the Spirit of God hovered over the primordial waters and brought forth life.
“In the beginning was the Word,and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.”
Photo courtesy of Lucy Cason
Greccio, Italy
And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14; New American Bible) The phrase “made his dwelling among us” is translated several different ways: (translation, Bible)
Heres my two cents worth: “pitched his tent among us.” The word used is eskēnōsen from skēnoō, “to dwell in a tent” – and it associated word skēnōma meaning “tent.” (Ref: Balz, Horst Robert, and Gerhard Schneider. Exegetical dictionary of the New Testament 1990: 252, 253)
I like my translation (however unqualified). It is graphic and telling just how “down in the dirt with us” is the Son of God. And that is love. Just saying…
friarmusings 