Transcendence and Immanence.

There are 2 seminary words for you, harkening back to my third quarter freshman year, Systematic Theology I. I have been thinking for some time about the image of God in the Old Testament -- big, powerful, holy, creative...the God you don't mess with. There is a sense as I read about Him, then look the sky and ponder what He has done, and imagine what it must be like to stand before Him -- that sense is fear. Not quaking fear (probably should be), but the healthy holy respect of being close to Divinity. I have had flashes of that of late, too -- a sense of Presence that opens the eyes, quickens the heart, and brings one to silence and awe. I've been digging this of late, too; I like the 'God is big and beyond me (transcendent), and I better be ready should He come calling in a palpable way' feeling. The flip side is what truly humbles me -- that He would choose to draw near, to be knowable, to be close (immanent). I find myself thanking Him for both of these things lately...a fun dicotomy to say the least.