Brynne Valla--Ordinary as Mask of the Holy

From the chapter, The Ordinary as Mask of the Holy, Lane talks about how ordinary places in nature are transformed into holy places, and how this transformation both reveals and conceals something about the nature of God. In class, we used the example of Moses being unable to look at God's face because no human can know the identity of God; the Israelites simply called God "I AM" in keeping with this distance. However, although Moses was unable to view God's face, he was able to see his backside when God's presence passed by him. In these instances, God took the shape of clouds, burning bushes and various other ordinary landscapes to conceal his identity. Yet in concealing himself, he also revealed that his holiness and inability to be in his full presence in front of the unholy. In the desert thousands of years ago, the ordinary served as a mask of the holy to reveal and conceal the nature of God.