Cathedrals and crosses come near

“So I will come near to you for judgment. …but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty” (Malachi 3:5 NIV).

“Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8 NIV).

“That’ll make a great picture!” said passerby after passerby as they stopped to see where my camera pointed.

“Yeah, thanks.” I replied, as I positioned my camera on its tripod for the right angle, set the timer, and prepared to jump into the picture before the shutter fired. With the wind trying to blow over the tripod and the pedestrian traffic, it took a lot of determination to get the best shot.

Each year after Christmas I try to get away on a study break. I do my best to focus on God through a time of resting, reading, writing, and reflecting. This year, one of our friends let us use their beach condo for a week. What a blessing!

On my daily walks along the beach I discovered a place underneath an ocean pier that became a cathedral of worship for me. As the surf crashed and the sun glittered off the waves, it seemed as if creation itself were worshiping. I looked at the criss-crossing beams overhead and imagined the archways formed by the flying buttresses of Notre Dame.

“Lord, this is your cathedral and I am here to worship.” I whispered.

So, every day I headed down the beach to this oceanside cathedral. As I prayed and pondered, I began to see signs of God everywhere I looked. One day, I gazed down the length of the pier and I saw the outline of the cross gleaming in the sunlight as if from down a long, dark tunnel.

“I’ve got to have a photo of that.” I thought to myself.

On the last day of our stay, before I loaded up the camera gear for my final trek down to the pier, I read the daily entry from the One Year Bible for December 31st. It offered the last chapters from Malachi, Revelation, Psalms, and Proverbs. All of these passages spoke volumes to me, but as is often the case the Holy Spirit seemed to underline one particular phrase. It was the phrase above from Malachi: “I will come near to you for judgment.”

It occurred to me that God didn’t judge us from afar. No, He came near, touching us, examining us, cleansing us, like a mother washing behind the ears of her child. He came nearer still and took our sins upon Himself, becoming dirty like us, so that we might become clean like Him. All of God’s judgment was spent on the cross.

After my quiet time, I headed down the beach with tripod and camera in hand. I set up for the photo seen above, aiming down the length of the pier capturing the cross-like image shining in the distance. It wasn’t until I got back to the room and downloaded the pier photos to my laptop that I noticed that there was not only a cross in the distance, but one near my feet as well!

“Lord, you’ve brought the cross much closer than I realized.” I prayed, after noticing the shadow of a cross-like image falling across the sand at my feet in the foreground of the photo. God had surprised me with that second cross. He reminded me that the cross is both behind me and before me. It’s nearer than we think.

I’m glad that God is always faithful to come near to us when we draw near to Him. He waits in unexpected places that become like cathedrals when we pause to worship Him.