In 2008, we had the privilege of visiting Paris - not as a part of a tour group, but as interlopers, wandering the streets, ducking in any building that caught our attention. This is how we came across the Church of Saint-Sulpice (I had little kids. I did not make The Da Vinci Code connection. Who had time to read a book or see a movie?!?)
The church contains the Gnomon of Saint Sulpice or the Rose Line from The Da Vinci
Code or the Paris Meridian. The rival to the Prime Meridian, the Paris Meridian served as an important astronomical marker for centuries, marking a defining line between the eastern and western hemispheres. Prior to 1884 when the Prime Meridian became the recognized dividing line between the east and west, one could stand in Saint Sulpice and straddle the world.
Naturally, we had great fun imitating this as a family. Many pictures were taken. However, in 2008, regular cameras still commonly appeared around tourists' necks and not simply a phone. My camera possessed digital technology, but the SIM card needed to be loaded into a computer when I returned home. Imagine my disappointment when EVERY picture from the church appeared blurry. Not one clear image emanated from the sanctuary of Saint-Sulpice.
As I ponder the question of how much do I trust God, I am drawn back to the dividing line in Saint-Sulpice. Surrounded by amazing beauty, I gazed upward and wandered aimlessly and snapped eagerly and crisscrossed an extremely clear brass line separating the entire structure. My ignorance of the church left me dazed, not knowing if I existed on the western side of the world or if I wandered into the east. Some moments I even made the conscious decision to firmly plant my feet on either side of the line and proudly smile and confidently snap a picture to say to the world, “See! Here Nancy stands, master of both the east and the west! She has placed her feet firmly on either side of the world!!!” And I placed my children there too. The result….all a blur.
Is God Trustworthy?
In Lesson 3, I established God graces us with free-will, and despite our disobedient nature, His heart yearns for us to obey Him with our own personal choices. He will never force us into obedience, but provides His word, the Bible, as a guide to lead us into a relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. Ultimately, the choice of whether or not to obey will be an individual one between every person ever created and his/her creator.
In Lesson 4, my supposition is humans hesitate to obey God and enter into that relationship because we simply do not trust Him. We look at the Bible and a few stories that we do not understand; we look at a few Christians who may or may not be loving, joyful, peaceful, faithful, kind, good, gentle, and self-controlled; and we look at the world around us and the chaos contained there; and we say, “no thank you!”
This may be a repeat for anyone who has read my blogs on anxiety, but the trust breakdown began that fateful day when Eve let the devil get in her head and planted doubts about God, and the story hasn’t changed much. Look how the devil got to her, “Did God really say you can’t eat from any tree in the garden?” Genesis 3:1 (CSB) The devil planted that seed of doubt. He made Eve feel like she was missing out on something. How often does that trick work? “No! You will not die. In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3: 4-5 Notice that half truth. That one works on us still too, doesn’t it?
God created the perfect relationship with His creation. God formed humanity in His image. Eve was already like God - He imbued her with everything she needed - she walked in the garden with Him in perfect peace as long as she kept her eyes fixed on Him in obedience and didn’t go close to that line of doubt. That very clear gold line He placed in brass on the floor.
Eve blurred the line, and now humans who follow find themselves wandering, not knowing if they function in the east, the west, or somewhere in between. Many try to straddle the line and feel like they do a pretty good job until they see the developed big picture and realize what a mess they’ve made of life.
Stories permeate television, streaming services, and podcasts about people doing everything in their power to cling to life - force meaning from life- find a reason we exist- answering the why are we here question? Crime dramas narrate stories of life ended too soon - cut off tragically. We try to justify. We try to make sense of it all. We question. We question God. And He seems so far away and inaccessible with His Tree of Life and His Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and He is disconnected.
As soon as Eve ate, she did know good and evil - a knowledge that crushed her and still crushes us today. The weight of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil burdens so heavily, and Satan uses this in our lives on a daily basis to whisper to us, “You can’t trust God. He….fill in the blank.”
So what is God to do? How does He defend Himself? He’s so far away and inaccessible with His Tree of Life and His Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. He is disconnected from anything in our realm of existence. Right?
His Word - the Bible - His story from beginning to end. His love letter to all of humanity.
Start in Genesis. Every single person who trusts Him and His guidance - what does God do? He is present. If the trust is not there, where is God? Does God just not show up? Does He cease to care?
I imagine the Gnomon of Saint Sulpice, the Paris Meridian. We spend a great deal of time in our lives wandering around not knowing what side of the line we are on. We also like to try to straddle the line and smile and take pictures and scream look at me! I am conquering the world. And guess what? Life remains extremely messy and blurry. However, we have biblical example after biblical example of people who messed up and sought God and He met them at the line and guided them over. Take the man who became Israel. In his old age after all the mistakes and all the heartache, he packed his bags and wearily left his home and embarked into the unknown after crying only a few verses before, If I am deprived of my sons, then I am deprived Genesis 43:14. God comes to him and comforts, I am God, the God of your father, Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you back, Joseph will close your eyes when you die. Genesis 46: 3-4.
Once Jacob decided to stand firmly in trust on the God side of the line, God showed up in full force. I really think trust is the key. God can’t work with us and for us if we waver over our own meridians. We erect the barriers, the bumps in the road, not God. We blur the lines and cross the median not God. We allow that tree and all its questions to crush us under the weight of all that doubt. But how do we get to the line? How do we get out from under that tree?
Jesus. That’s Lesson 5.
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