Sayings

Today we consider the saying “the four corners of the earth.” In Christianity and Judaism, the Old Testament (Book of Genesis, Genesis 2:8–14) identifies the Garden of Eden, and the four rivers as the Tigris, Euphrates, Pishon, and Gihon. The Tigris runs to Assyria, the Euphrates to Armenia, the Pishon to Havilah or Elam, and the Gihon to Ethiopia. 

The four corners of the earth are also spoken of in the book of Revelation 7:1, and mention of the "four quarters of the earth" appears in Revelation 20:8. “After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”

There is a lovely verse in Luke 13:29 where Jesus declares, ”Yes, and people will come from the east and the west, and from the north and the south, and take their seats in the kingdom of God.” But v 30 goes on where Jesus implies that we will be surprised by those who enter and those who don't. However hard we try, we often find ourselves excluding persons or groups from salvation. Jesus invites us to be wary of judging others, and to believe that all can be open to God's loving offer of salvation.

I recently read that to be a Christian is to live in tension with the world around you, in fact to live at  and in‘Four Corners”. We cannot live out our spiritual life in a cocoon; we live it out in the real world, in a community. To be a Christian, living out our spiritual identity, is to engage the world around us and see the reach of God to the four corners of the earth. For:-

There's a wideness in God's mercy,

Like the wideness of the sea;

There's a kindness in his justice,

Which is more than liberty.

For the love of God is broader

Than the measures of man's mind;

And the heart of the Eternal

Is most wonderfully kind.

Lord of all creation as we look to the east may we open our senses to the beauty and wonder around us. As we turn to the west may we open our hearts to one another and all we meet. In turning to the south may we open our minds to viewpoints and realms beyond our present knowing. As we face north, we ask to be Open to Spirit for our Highest Good may we be blessed and share that blessing with others. Amen