Portable Religion

The root of the word “Hebrew” means “nomad”. Our ancestors in faith were nomadic people who roamed far and wide across the Middle East seeking water and pasture for their flocks.  In keeping with this transient life, their understanding of God was broader than that of many of their neighbors. God was not limited to a particular rock, mountain, or other geographic location. The Hebrew God moved with his people. Their sanctuary was a “tent of meeting” and their altar was the portable “ark of the covenant”.

The Hebrews eventually settled in Israel, built a fixed temple in Jerusalem, and created a priesthood. Christianity began with an itinerant preacher of whom it was said, “He had no (permanent) place to lay his head.” We, too, evolved into elaborate cathedrals, parish churches and hierarchies.

I am mindful of these roots of our faith in the early Hebrew experience as the face of religion is changing today. Organized religion is weakening, and our beautiful buildings are ageing. But really vital spiritual practices and ministries are flourishing in homes, coffee shops, homeless shelters, food banks. Many are in small venues beyond the walls of official holy sites and outside the purview of the ordained.

Perhaps a way forward is to recover a sense of the nomadic and portable—an understanding that God is experienced in and among her people, wherever they may be.

–John Paddock