Letter from Richard Mouw ‘re My Space

My Space, Your Space, His Space

In a recent letter Rich Mouw, president of Fuller Seminary, describes his fascination with the My Space phenomenon – which he has been following to see what is happening in the culture. He was not too pleased to see how much drugs, alcohol, and sex dominated.

That led him to ask what it all means spiritually, and to the following observations:

“In a meditation that he once wrote about solitude, the great Dutch statesman Abraham Kuyper (my favorite theologian!) likened the human soul to the tabernacle of the Old Testament. In each of us, he said, there is an outer court, a holy place, and a holy of holies. In the outer court we engage in our public affairs. In the holy place we nurture relations with a smaller circle of friends and loved ones. But in our holy of holies, each of us is alone with our God.

“I like that idea that each of us has a very personal holy of holies … a very intimate and private ‘my space.’ There is an important part of us that even our closed friends and loved ones do not know. But the Scriptures also teach us – as the image of holy of holies makes clear – that in this very special personal space, we are not alone. Here, too, we are in the presence of God.

“In that sense, the notion of MySpace that we can protect against all would-be invaders is a lie. ‘Where can I flee from your presence?’ says the Psalmist to God in Psalm 139. We live our lives inescapably before the face of our Maker. No thought is hidden to him. All spaces are in reality a part of ‘God’s space, even our most intimate ‘my spaces.’”

Thanks, Rich, for these provocative thoughts, which lead us to explore the One who fills all Space (and Spaces).

Leighton Ford,

August 2007