The 7th dimension
I went to see a film the other day. It was cathartic just to sit quietly in the dark and watch the moving images on the screen. An engrossing film takes you out of yourself and for a little while you are in a different dimension or is its dimension(s)?
In the 4th dimension on the screen, there are bumps and joys and falls. In fact, anything that a movie director can imagine. With our geeky world, any ‘reality’ can become ‘reality’ on the big screen. It’s lovely to escape and usually, all is resolved in some form or other by the time the credits roll and the lights go up.
What happens at the altar on a Sunday is very much like this except that we slip into something that I like to call the ‘7th dimension’. In this 7th dimension, we bring our scars, our foibles and our laughter with us. We don’t leave them at the ticket office. They are an integral part of who we are and they make their way to the altar to be blessed and made holy. The very essence of Him. We don’t escape from our ugly and tortured bits and pretend they don’t exist.
The broken, fragile and busted bread says it all. So also the wine that is poured out selflessly.
The drama of the altar is our drama and the reality we bring is his reality of scars, tears, dancing, feasting, solitude and wrestling with hard questions that will not relinquish their answers.
There is a time, place and need for the flickering images on the movie screen. The 4th dimension.
The 7th dimension is something else altogether. A timeless place that is all around and within. It is both inescapable, intangible and our most authentic reality. See you in the 7th dimension.