A Rock for a Pillow and a Dream of Angels

Devotional Reflection, Friday, February 9, 2024

The week of the fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.

Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading:

10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. 11He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. 12And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13And the LORD stood beside him and said, ‘I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; . . . .

16 Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place—and I did not know it!’

You will find the full text of today’s Old Testament reading at the end of this reflection.

Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 947)

AM Psalm [83] or 146, ; PM Psalm 85, 86

Gen. 27:30-45; Rom. 12:9-21; John 8:21-32

David’s Reflections

The Spanish poet Antonio Machado has these lines in one of his poems:

Mankind owns four things

That are no good at sea--

Rudder, anchor, oars,

And the fear of going down. *

Jacob was “going down,” so to speak.  He had been forced to flee from home to avoid the anger of his brother Esau over his trickery and deception.  Jacob’s schemes had cost Esau his birthright and the promise of success to which the first born child was entitled.  In our reading, Jacob is profoundly alone, sleeping in the wilderness. In that space of aloneness gave space, God surprised Jacob and blessed him. Jacob could not have anticipated this.  In Scripture, the wilderness symbolizes a place of foreboding and darkness and spiritual deprivation.  Jesus went into the wilderness to his temptations. Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years.

Have you found yourself in a wilderness place, a place of profound aloneness and personal deprivation?  It may be a dreadful place of doubt, anxiety, depression, or fear.  You may have assumed that you had to get free of that place to recover your spiritual self.  But, in journeying into that place of deprivation and fear, you have journeyed into God.  Did not Jacob say, “Surely the LORD is in this place—and I did not know it!”

In that wilderness place, you will find few if any who truly understand.  Like Jacob, you probably will feel profoundly alone and disconnected from the relationships that normally have nurtured you.  But, in that solitary place, your awareness of your inner self can become much more keen.  Also, space exists for God’s activity to become more obvious.  God’s loving activity continues within us unabated, but in solitary moments we are more likely to become aware of that unfailing presence.

It may seem counterintuitive to seek more aloneness when the wilderness moments come, but taking a day to yourself or having a weekend away from family and friends may be your version of Jacob’s night and his vision of the ladder, the moment when you can envision the link between the visible and invisible worlds in your own experience. Your rock pillow may well be the threshold over which the angles come.

*From "Fourteen Poems," in Times Alone, trans. Robert Bly (Wesleyan UP, 1983), p. 113.

Collect of the Day, Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.  (BCP, 216)

A Collect for Fridays

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (BCP, 97)

A Collect for Quiet Confidence

O God of peace, who has taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be our strength: By the might of your Spirit lift us, we pray, to your presence, where we may be still and know that you are God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (BCP, 832)

In the Evening

O Lord, support us all the day long, until the shadows lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in thy mercy, grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last. Amen.  (BCP, 833)

A Collect for Mission

Merciful God, creator of all the peoples of the earth and lover of souls: Have compassion on all who do not know you as you are revealed in your Son Jesus Christ; let your Gospel be preached with grace and power to those who have not heard it; turn the hearts of those who resist it; and bring home to your fold those who have gone astray; that there may be one flock under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. (BCP, 280)

Daily Office Old Testament Reading, Genesis 27:46-28:22

46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, ‘I am weary of my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women such as these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?’

28:1Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, ‘You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women. 2Go at once to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father; and take as wife from there one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and numerous, that you may become a company of peoples. 4May he give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien—land that God gave to Abraham.’ 5Thus Isaac sent Jacob away; and he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.

6 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he charged him, ‘You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women,’ 7and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram. 8So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please his father Isaac, 9Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, and sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.

10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. 11He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. 12And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13And the LORD stood beside him and said, ‘I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; 14and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. 15Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’

16 Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place—and I did not know it!’ 17And he was afraid, and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’ 18So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first. 20Then Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, 21so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, 22and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one tenth to you.’

Daily Offices in The Book of Common Prayer

Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer

Noonday Prayer, page 103, Book of Common Prayer

Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p 109, Book of Common Prayer

Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer

Compline (Night Prayer), page 127, Book of Common Prayer

Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer