This psalm is about a shining city on a hill, where the god of the people resides. It’s talking about Jerusalem, of course, but this place could also be Washington, D.C., as was one old president’s view, or maybe Sao Paulo or Timbuktu. Oh, I don’t know. Are there hills in Brazil?
While I’m at it, why do gods always prefer the mountains to the ocean? I mean, there’s Mount Olympus, Mount Sinai, Mount Zion and Mount Rushmore. Also, Carmel, Moriah, Tabor and Horeb. Mount of Transfiguration, Mountain of Light, Machu Picchu and Gang Rinpoche, right?
And why do our gods need temples and palaces? Do we? I’ve lived as a privileged hillbilly in a mountain cabin, and as a beach bum on the dole. I’ve seen a little brown church in a vale and a solitary cross in the dunes. High country, low country, rich, poor — it’s all the same to the iSoul.