Friday of the Fourth Week of Advent
King David found himself in an embarrassing situation: he lived in a sumptuous palace and God lived next door in a tent. David wanted to rectify the imbalance and build God a magnificent temple even more beautiful and grand than his own house.
But God said “No! Not for now. Leave things as they are.” Perhaps God wanted David and all his fellow Israelites to get used to the idea that God was quite content in lowly surroundings.
Or perhaps God was preparing them and the world to realize that when he would come as man they should not look for him in a sumptuous palace but in a lowly stable, son of poor and simple folks.
Perhaps God is preparing us to find him in the lowly circumstances of our life and our world. Could it be that He has chosen to live in this place where I live, among the ordinary people around me, in the very circumstances that I face every day?
Stranger things have happened. Ask David. Or Joseph. Or Mary.
Reflection by Abbot Benedict Neenan, OSB
Posted in Articles for Advent, Daily Reflections