"There (at the mercy seat of the Ark) I will meet with you and, from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are upon the ark of the Testimony, I will speak intimately with you all which I will give you in commandment to the Israelites." Exodus 25:22 (amplified)

It's interesting to me that the God of all creation told Moses that He would meet him not in some elaborate building, or after he had done masochistic repetitive acts, or sacrificed all he had, but rather between the two angels that flanked what is known as the "mercy seat" of the Ark of the Testimony (more commonly known as the Ark of the Covenant).

A little background: God had rescued the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt. He brought them out into the wilderness, and there at a mountain, He met with Moses, His appointed spokesman to the people. It's here He gives "the Big 10," or the ten commandments. But he also converses with Moses about what the relationship between God and His people should look like.

So, when I read these verses this morning, I found it interesting that God instructed Moses the place to meet with him was a place of mercy -- not power, or repentance, or anything that we so often dress God in. Instead, it was an enviroment most of us don't view God sitting in.

According to Webster's, mercy is, "A refraining from harming or punishing offenders, enemies, etc.; kindness in excess of what may be expected ... a disposition to forgive or be kind ... kind or compassionate treatment ... a fortunate thing; blessing." That was God's calling card to His people. Yeah, He's about justice and worship and many other things -- I'm not trying to oversimplify things here.

But mercy was God's invitation to Moses. He promised He would meet Moses sitting among the insence, between the cheribum (angels), and surrounded with mercy -- kindness, forgiveness, excessive compassion, blessing.

If we as followers of "the Way" would portray to our world this picture of God to our world, to other followers of what we term other "religions," to the poor, the oppressed, the people who have been screwed by this world and tend to blame the synthetic God we often elevate as our "santa in the sky," what difference would there be? And if I would live my life imitating God in this way ... giving up my right to be "right," ignoring the perceived wrongs done to me in light of meeting someone at the seat of mercy, focusing on those things that unite us and not those things that divide us... what a difference I could make! I could actually participate in bring heaven to earth. I coud actually begin looking like the God I say I serve. I could participate in something god-like.

Mercy is mine to give. Mercy is a place I can choose to live in. Mercy is where my God wants to meet with me. It should be where I desire to meet with others, too.