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.
IDOLATRY
Idolatry makes love impossible... It seems that many men, and some women, cannot give up the illusion of possessing another person. The idea of that person - the "idea" is related etymologically to the word "idol" - becomes more important, more potent than the actual living creature. It is much safer to love an idol than a real person who is capable of surprising you, loving you and demanding love in return, and maybe one day leaving you. People who have murdered their spouses often talk about how much they love them, and they mean it. In order to keep the idol intact, in order to keep on loving it, they had to do away with him or her.
I remember a strange movie...I think it was "Boxing Helena." In that movie, the main male character is in love with Helena. To keep her, he piece by piece cuts off a part of her body until all she is left with is a head and the trunk of her body. I know there was much more to the movie than that...but its been years since I saw it and only this final image remains. But what an odd way to show love. Odd, because love does not contain another person. As Norris might say it, idolatry contains...idolatry makes love impossible. Love seeks out the welfare and the growth and the changes within another. Love allows and love assists the other to change and move and continue to become more fully the person s/he can be. It is no wonder that some people turn their world...or at least a image of their world into a fix image and, therefore, an idol. They do not want things to change or people to move through the wonderful adventure of growth and transformation. The people of Israel really thought begin back in Egypt could be a good thing compared to the wilderness wandering. Back there, things were fixed in place and...at least there was the same-old-same-old routine. No wonder they fashioned an idol when Moses was off exploring what would come next for them...they wanted to stay put in what was.
Connection: Letting go of the images we want to make secure can be the most dynamic and life giving part of our day. Sometimes that simply means we change the way we see them. Rather than making them fit into a box that will benefit us for a short period of time, we can let them live with us forever...changing every day.
Great Deliverer, it is by your amazing power that we are able to stand and walk into a new world at the beginning of this day. Inspire us to be graceful as we build our relationships and seek to grow alongside one another with a sense of justice and peace and love. Amen
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