1In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. 2On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin), 3the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the LORD was upon him there.
There are times where we might feel that we're in exile, living in a land that doesn't share our beliefs. However, God still speaks to people even if they're not at home; He probably speaks more cleary to the person who's having to fend of persecution as a minority.
My mind's thinking about exiles. I'm thinking of some of the WWII government-in-exile, where the Dutch royal family had to hang out in England after the Germans overran the country. Given the Alito nomination, the phrase "Constitution in exile" (that origionalists would like to restore, even if it's liberals that coined and popularized the phrase) comes to mind as well.
Are we, as the Church, the Gospel in exile? That's a bit of a stretch, but let me take that metaphor for a spin. Our real home's in heaven; we're strangers in a strange land (Moses beat Heinlein to that line).
On this planet, we are the primary manifestation of the Good News. However, we also long to return home; short of that, we'll try to make our adoptive home a bit more like our real home.
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