The lead piece is from "Amazing Grace by Kathleen Norris. In this book she takes many of the words and images of the faith and attempts to put some reality and life to them.
COMMANDMENTS
Tobacco, banjo playing, and dominoes do not figure in the Decalogue as recorded in the Book of Exodus. But particularly in nineteenth- and twentieth-century America, Christians have been adept, and remarkably inventive, at interpreting God's commandments to cover just about anything they don't approve of. The effect, of course, is to make the surpassingly large God of the scriptures into a petty Cosmic Patrolman. Addictions are not petty, but for Christians, fretting over them as exclusively moral issues can be a convenient way of ignoring Jesus' admonition that it isn't what we ingest into our bodies that is at the root of our troubles, but what comes out of our hearts and minds.
One writer talks about Wisdom is sticking close to the teaching of Jesus...and...aligning ones life according to the teaching of Torah. This is not a petty description of the Commandments. In fact, what we know as the ten commandments are are part of a powerful response to the love God has for us. Too often, we want to single out an action or a practice or something that is easily pointed at and called "bad" or "wrong" and be able to say we don't do "that." But the Commandments are those ways our lives are shaped. They become the routine...the way we prepare day-by-day to walk as though we really trust that our God walks beside us...forever and ever.
Connection: I like the image of the potter who molds clay into beautiful and useful pieces of art that have a function and are essential to everyday life. How are you being shaped today by the love of God for you? What are the ways you embody this love?
God of Grace you give us the gift of the commandments and we begin to walk into this day with a vision of what it means to dance to the loving word you have showered upon us from the beginning of time. Today, we praise you for your gift of life and love. Amen
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