Solemnity of the Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe
R. The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.
Written by Allyson Gary
When I was twenty, I studied abroad in England. One of the outings my teachers organized was a trip to the Tower of London, where some of England’s most infamous citizens were imprisoned. Strangely enough, the prison quarters are not the only stop on the tour. A small building at the rear of the facility houses something altogether more valuable: the crown jewels.
Visitors step onto a conveyor belt to be ushered past the various accoutrements of the English royal family. There are tiaras and scepters and necklaces and rings, all glittering brilliantly underneath the spotlights. On rare occasions, the royal jewels are taken out of their special building so that the monarch may address his or her subjects. This vast display of wealth has always been a way to set the sovereign apart from everyone else—the lush fabrics and shining jewels signal to everyone that the person that wears them is one of great importance. I’ve seen the jewels with my own eyes; they’re quite a sight to behold. But even the hundreds of carats of diamonds and emeralds and rubies and sapphires cannot compare to the splendor of God’s face.
We cannot begin to comprehend the magnificence of God’s majesty. We attempt to emulate it, but we fall short. Our earthly kings and queens clothe themselves in baubles and trinkets, God is clothed in the grandeur of the universe.
Wonder is hard to come by in this world. We’re not easily impressed. However, God wants to make his majesty known to us. God’s face can be seen anywhere, so long as we know what to look for. The majesty of God is present, waiting to be revealed to us, but can only be experienced in moments of stillness. The colors of a sunset streak through the sky for only a short time. A rainbow is seen in an instant and is gone in the next. The bridge of your favorite song can be replayed but to slow it down or lengthen it would be to distort it. A smile shared between friends over a secret joke is wonderful for all that it communicates in the briefest moments.
What we glimpse when we are given these special moments is better than any jewel in the King’s collection. And the beautiful thing is that the moments themselves are not rare at all. God grants His beauty to us in abundance; it is up to us to learn how to recognize it. And while the magnificence of the royal family’s collection will dim and wither with time, God’s will not. God’s majesty is eternal, it clothes Him until the end of time.
What can you do this week to acknowledge God’s majesty?
Allyson Gary is a writer and podcaster based in Southern Louisiana. She is the host of Memento Mori: The Podcast, available on Spotify, where she talks about everyone’s favorite topics: death and grief. Follow her show on Instagram and be sure to send her lots of compliments because she can only function with a near constant stream of people reassuring her that they still like her and have not decided to hate her in the three minutes since she last asked.
Pray with today’s psalm.