God's Presence at Good Shepherd

The church building is protected with a security system that is monitored around the clock. Occasionally the alarm is activated and we receive a call from the monitoring station - most of the time it is during the day, as the alarm is set off accidentally. Sometimes the alarm goes off well into the night which necessitates a trip over to the church to meet the police officer who has been summoned to make sure all is well. 

On one such occasion I drove over to the church to meet the sheriff’s department deputy having surveyed the perimeter of the church and seeing no intrusion, he entered the sacristy. As we stepped into the sanctuary, the officer accompanying me was completely taken, almost stricken, with the beauty of the altar. 

The altar and its mosaics glowed in reflection of its lighting. The rest of the church was silent and in nearly complete, mysterious darkness. The officer and his colleagues who have witnessed so much brokenness and ugliness, standing before the altar had clearly entered into the holy and peace-giving presence of God.

 It was biblical, not that far away from Isaiah’s own experience in the temple and I witnessed it. - Robert