Houses of the Living

Last night I was flipping through a journal that I kept last spring, and I came across a quote I had written down from Nicholas Wolterstorff's Lament for a Son:

"I begin to understand why humanity has regarded its burial grounds as sacred sites. Under each of these plots has been laid to rest what remained of one of God's images on earth, one of his icons. Those icon-remains hallow this place.

"I suppose if that's true, then the houses of the living are even more hallowed."

As my roommates and I have been milling about our dorm room today, and with friends coming in and out, I've been thinking about what a sacred place this is. And when I can see clearly enough to look someone in the face and think, "image of God", my pulse quickens and I all but tremble.

Since it gets dark so early now, I often walk across campus and see lights on in people's rooms. And I've come to recognize how beautiful a thing it is to live in the presence of living icons.

And I'm humbled to realize that I, too, am a living image of God, hallowing this place.