THE HIDDEN HOLY
2 Kings 11:1-3
Athaliah and Joash
1 When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family. 2 But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram [a] and sister of Ahaziah, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the royal princes, who were about to be murdered. She put him and his nurse in a bedroom to hide him from Athaliah; so he was not killed. 3 He remained hidden with his nurse at the temple of the LORD for six years while Athaliah ruled the land. [NIV]Exodus 2:3
3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. [NIV]
Since the commencement of humanity to the present time both men and women have discovered the strength of their weakness and the weakness of their strength through contact and exposure to the Hidden Holy. These encounters with the Hidden Holy are radically life transforming whether we intentionally walk into the nucleus of the conspicuous or whether circumstance catapults us into the nucleus of the clandestine.
Subsequently, it is only in retrospect, that time [both chronos and chiros] provides the seeker with a compelling revelation that he/she has encountered the Hidden Holy. In essence, it is only after we have recovered from the potency of the impact of being in the divine presence of GOD, that we realize that which is the Hidden Holy was initially obscure to us. Consequently, revelation becomes the catalyst for epiphany and epiphany becomes the salvific force that promotes a life-long encounter with deep and abiding faith through repeated encounters with the Hidden Holy.
Throughout the development of human history, our Holy Writ offers us a plethora of instances when the Hidden Holy becomes the Hidden Holy Revealed. Though our encounter with the Hidden Holy initially appears enigmatic or even cryptic at times, sustained intimacy with it provides us with GOD'S healing balm of protection; GOD'S healing balm of love.
In the Old Testament of the Bible 2 Kings 11:1-3, we become intimately acquainted with the dynamics that foster that which is requisite for the Hidden Holy. When Athaliah the mother of the deceased Ahaziah is grief-stricken, she in her pathos makes a decree to destroy the royal family. However, when Jeosheba, daughter of King Jehoram and sister of Ahaziah, becomes cognizant of Athaliah's plan, she removes Joash, son of Ahaziah, from the company of the royal kingdom and places both he and his nurse in a bedroom in the temple for hiding. Joash remains hidden with his nurse for six years.
Moreover, we observe the same dynamic taking place with Moses who is placed in a papyrus basket among the reeds along the bank of the Nile River to divert the "prophet to be" from harm, destruction, and extinction.
Significantly, the proclamation of the logos, advent, the birth of the Christ-Child becomes the cosmic and eschatological catalyst that reaches epidemic proportions as King Herod decrees that the life of the Christ-Child be extinguished!
What is most striking and mammoth about the motif of the Hidden Holy is that it is a requisite for the human condition; i.e., there is something inherent in our nature that evades words and conscious, yet intrinsically thirsts for a dynamic and meaningful connection with GOD. Some refer to this connection as the collective unconscious, while others refer to this connection as SPIRIT which is derived from the Latin word spiritus that means breath; i.e., respiration. Biblical narrative offers us greater insight into the two dimensions that will offer us joy and peace when the Hidden Holy becomes the Hidden Holy Revealed.
THE HIDDEN HOLY
In the children's book entitled The Black Snowman by Phil Mendez, a mother who is raising her two sons attempts to reframe the family's lack of financial resources in a manner that does not inhibit their capacity for love and happiness. The older of the two sons, Jacob, is angered and frustrated by the families pathos and is unable to be present to the Hidden Holy that is coursing through the persona of his younger brother, Peewee.
One early morning the boys went outside. Peewee desired to play in the snow to the strong objection of Jacob who argued that the snow was too watery and black as a consequence of all those who had walked and trampled upon it. Peewee with openness and imagination proceeded to build a snowman and Jacob joined him. Once the snowman was completed, Jacob surmised that something was missing. Consequently, Peewee found a tattered colorful old kente, which Jacob objected to using.
Nevertheless, Peewee draped the shawl around the shoulder of the snowman. Subsequently, the snowman came to life and his speech startled the boys. Jacob was still disturbed as he had an earlier conversation with his mother that everything black seemed to be have a negative connotation ascribed to it. Mother, of course, provided Jacob with a less cynical perspective, but he was still unconvinced. Consequently, when he was confronted by a black snowman.
Next, the snowman placed his hand on Jacob's forehead as he tells Jacob that the heavens are black and that the universe is held in it. He asked Jacob, "What is most important in a book, the white pages, the black words, or the message that the book holds?" The snowman asked Jacob if he had ever sat at the tables of his forefathers. Jacob was puzzled as mother called from the window. The snowman indicated to Jacob that their work was just beginning.
Still troubled about the incident earlier that morning, Jacob fell asleep that night, but was awakened by a voice that said, "Arise, great warrior!" Jacob got out of bed and placed his coat over his pajamas and ran outside.
The snowman waved his hand and the ancestors appeared. He asked Jacob if he studied with the scholars of Timbuktu, ridden with the horsemen of Bornu, danced with the Zulu, wrestled with the Nuba, hunted with the Bini, heard the stories of the Ashanti, read the poems of the Tuareg, or the prayers of the Zande. He told Jacob that he was a descendant of Africans of a great heritage. Jacob was frighten and ran back to the house.
THE HIDDEN HOLY REVEALED
The following day Jacob heard an explosion from the building across the street. The snowman appeared to Jacob and expressed to him that Peewee was inside of the building a blazed with fire. Subsequently, the snowman and Jacob ran into the building and reached Peewee. Under the colorful tattered old kente, which was the cloth of the ancestors, the snowman stepped from beneath it as it was just enough room for Peewee and Jacob. Though the snowman started to melt, but was able to solidify again when Jacob articulated, "restore," this kente contained the wisdom and memories of the ages and was a kente cloth that accompanied prisoners loaded on ships across a vast ocean where they were sold into slavery. This kente passed through generations, even after slavery and was used until it was discarded as a useless rag. The smoke-filled shadows of the ancestors led the boys to safety. After the fireman extinguished the fire, he saw a colorful old kente that he picked up to take to his daughter who he believed would use it to make a dress for her doll.
In essence, there are a myriad of blessings waiting for you, though at present, they appear in the NOW-HERE as the HIDDEN HOLY!
What must we do when we are in this place?
What must we do when we are in this space?
Simply stated, but challenging to do, WAIT ON GOD! That's right, WAIT ON THE LORD [Which is an active and dynamic process that is in no way passive]!
In order to that we might be graced by the gift of waitng, we must understand that things must go in to hiding for two significant reasons. There are two types of ways in which things are hidden: 1] Those things which are hidden for a great deal of time for development and then retrieved when the danger subsides to become prophetic fulfillment as in the case of Athaliah and Joash, Moses, JESUS; 2] Those things which are hidden, discarded, or cast away in order to achieve the status of the Hidden Holy Revealed which liberates, regenerates, and heals us and enables the will of GOD to be manifested as in the cases of Jesus/The Resurrection and the Kente Cloth of Jacob and Peewee.
Consequently, when you believe that there is no movement in your life and that, perhaps, GOD has forgotten about you, your desires, your aspirations, your fears, your hurts, your disappointments, and your devastations and when you believe that your condition or circumstances are much too large for GOD, remember this: Wait! You are in the PRESENCE of your HIDDEN HOLY which is waiting to become your HIDDEN HOLY REVEALED! "For eyes have not seen, neither have ears heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man what GOD has in store for those who love him."
K. Mason
(c) 2005
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