Come back

Return to the LORD your God (Joel 2:13)
I am intrigued by the idea of returning to God. It implies that we once knew God well and have since wandered away, so to come to God is a return. This is a theme of Jesus' teaching. The prodigal son returns to his father. The lost sheep is brought back to the fold. The lost coin is found again.
It would be easy to dismiss this as relevant to the children of Israel alone. As Paul grapples with the possibility that his own people, the people of God, might find themselves shut out from the presence of God, he can barely believe it, preferring to suggest that at the last they may be called home. The history of Israel is one of repeated estrangement from God and repeated reconciliation. This last coming of the Messiah is just another stage in that journey.
However I am not so sure. There is good reason to believe that innocence is spiritual, that those who have never been taught their prayers naturally pray. One source is language. Now I'm not a expert but I have heard one speak, a Cambridge professor no less, and he told us that language points to something fascinating in human development. Awareness of a separate world (the roots of science) and awareness of a spiritual dimension (the roots of religion) appeared at the same time in human history. The word 'light' has always meant both that which enables us to see objects around us and that which enables us to see beyond those objects into the spiritual realm. Even cave paintings depict both the body and the spirit of an animal so it is thought. Just look at the earliest White Horse at Uffington. It displays the essence of a horse not it's outline.
So 'return to the LORD' is a call on all of us, far or near, follower of Jesus or ardent critic of the Gospel stories. In this time of constrained physical activity and endeavour, allow your spiritual activity to blossom. Seek the Lord while he is near, for when things start up again there may not be time.

The view over Uffington from the White Horse escarpment

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