“How awesome is this shrine! This is nothing else but an abode of God, and that is the gateway to heaven!” Jacob fleeing for his life discovered that the place where he slept was sacred. He named it Bethel and it was the shrine during the age of the patriarchs. During the conquest after the Exodus Shechem became the sacred place; then during the time of the judges, Shiloh. It was King David who made Jerusalem into the sacred space for the Israelites. At St. James we too have discovered that sacred places can shift. We lost our former sanctuary and have created a new one. The story of Jacob reminds us that sacred places can be anywhere since all of the earth was created by God. In fact, our whole life long all we are doing is moving from one piece of holy ground to the next.
JULY102023
By Church Staff
