O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill?
Those who walk blamelessly and do what is right and speak the truth from their heart; who do not slander with their tongue and do no evil to their friends nor heap shame upon their neighbors; in whose eyes the wicked are despised but who honor those who fear the Lord; who stand by their oath even to their hurt; who do not lend money at interest and do not take a bribe against the innocent.
Those who do these things shall never be moved. ~ Psalm 15
When I read through this Psalm the first thing I wonder is whether I can abide in the tent or on God's holy hill.
Do I walk blamelessly?
Well...sure...sometimes. OK, most of the time even.
And then I tick through the rest of these descriptions and have to ask myself the same thing.
Do I qualify for living in that tent?
If I'm paying attention then the next question I should probably ask myself is this: So if I'm not sure if I qualify, is it up to me to decide who else does or doesn't?
I want to be under God's tent. On God's team. Charging up that holy hill.
But by virtue of whom that tent belongs to, I know it's big and so also know that I'm going to find some surprising people under it.
People who might even have more right to be there than me.
Holy One, help me to open my arms to be as inviting as your big tent is. Amen