Friday, July 10, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Holy water and weird history...
The Pentateuch is full of treasures...
I'm reading through the book of Numbers. Found one that made my jaw drop... It's about what happens to a woman if she is suspected of cheating. Sorry it's long, but check out the "Holy Water" reference!
16 " 'The priest shall bring her and have her stand before the LORD. 17 Then he shall take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into the water. 18 After the priest has had the woman stand before the LORD, he shall loosen her hair and place in her hands the reminder offering, the grain offering for jealousy, while he himself holds the bitter water that brings a curse. 19 Then the priest shall put the woman under oath and say to her, "If no other man has slept with you and you have not gone astray and become impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse not harm you. 20 But if you have gone astray while married to your husband and you have defiled yourself by sleeping with a man other than your husband"- 21 here the priest is to put the woman under this curse of the oath-"may the LORD cause your people to curse and denounce you when he causes your thigh to waste away and your abdomen to swell. d]">[d] 22 May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells and your thigh wastes away. e]">[e] "
" 'Then the woman is to say, "Amen. So be it."
The priest makes her drink holy mud and then curses her to have a miscarriage (in the footnote) and withered thighs!! Not to mention being cursed by her people. Just for suspicions from the husband...
I didn't even know there was holy water in the Bible. Thought that was just some Catholic thing. Shows my ignorance.
I hate the Law. I hate that God is perfect, and we are not. I hate that this is how our ancestors treated each other. Sometimes it still feels like God holds his perfection over us. That's probably just my own guilt and shame speaking, but when I read passages like this I wonder what God is really thinking.
Has God really remained unchanged since before time began?
I'm reading through the book of Numbers. Found one that made my jaw drop... It's about what happens to a woman if she is suspected of cheating. Sorry it's long, but check out the "Holy Water" reference!
16 " 'The priest shall bring her and have her stand before the LORD. 17 Then he shall take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into the water. 18 After the priest has had the woman stand before the LORD, he shall loosen her hair and place in her hands the reminder offering, the grain offering for jealousy, while he himself holds the bitter water that brings a curse. 19 Then the priest shall put the woman under oath and say to her, "If no other man has slept with you and you have not gone astray and become impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse not harm you. 20 But if you have gone astray while married to your husband and you have defiled yourself by sleeping with a man other than your husband"- 21 here the priest is to put the woman under this curse of the oath-"may the LORD cause your people to curse and denounce you when he causes your thigh to waste away and your abdomen to swell. d]">[d] 22 May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells and your thigh wastes away. e]">[e] "
" 'Then the woman is to say, "Amen. So be it."
The priest makes her drink holy mud and then curses her to have a miscarriage (in the footnote) and withered thighs!! Not to mention being cursed by her people. Just for suspicions from the husband...
I didn't even know there was holy water in the Bible. Thought that was just some Catholic thing. Shows my ignorance.
I hate the Law. I hate that God is perfect, and we are not. I hate that this is how our ancestors treated each other. Sometimes it still feels like God holds his perfection over us. That's probably just my own guilt and shame speaking, but when I read passages like this I wonder what God is really thinking.
Has God really remained unchanged since before time began?
Saturday, November 15, 2008
The Ideal of Perfection
Like a five-year-old running in the Olympics-
Thinking that if he just keeps flapping hard enough,
These scenarios do not make much sense at all right now. But
Is it a question of willingness to stick it out?
To hold to an ideal?
There must be a reason to cling tightly to a dream--
doesn't
I don't want to die thinking,
How can I live?
Convinced that if he just tries as hard as he can
he could
Outrun the competition.
Like an ostrich, looking at his small feathery wings and
Thinking that if he just keeps flapping hard enough, he could
Fly like the heron.
Like the endangered fish who thinks if she just focuses hard enough,
she could
Breathe on land.
Like the girl who thinks that if she dedicates her life to both
Catholicism and Protestantism,
she could
Meld both worlds.
Frankly, the world laughs at this. I laugh!!
These scenarios do not make much sense at all right now. But
In 20 years the five-year-old could race and beat the fastest in the world.
In several generations, the Ostrich could adapt into a bird
capable of short flights.
In a few centuries, the fish could evolve to breathe both in and out of water.
Peace and understanding could come to competing religions.
Is it a question of time?
Is it a question of willingness to stick it out?
To hold to an ideal?
There must be a reason to cling tightly to a dream--
A motivation to support an ideal to the finish line,
And the resolve must be so strong that even if he
doesn't
see
change
in his lifetime,
He will still strive with all his might
Resting in the dream that someone else will carry on
the ideal when he is dead and gone.
I don't want to die thinking,
"If only I had attempted to live my dream."
I don't want to die comfortable and insignificant.
How can I live?
How can I truly live as God has made me?
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