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?

The Ideal of Perfection

Like a five-year-old running in the Olympics-

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?

Speaking of the Church

Had an interesting conversation with my best bud Josh while he was visiting up here in Seattle, so I thought I'd share...

What's up with the Church?

I guess I should clarify what I mean when I say that. I mean, what's up with the American Church? What are we doing? What's the point? Do we care? Do we believe? Does God care? Does God still believe in us?

Long ago, God used men and women to do specific things that changed the world- often they failed, sometimes they succeeded, but all had their lives radically moved by God. I hear stories of this type of relationship overseas- Japan, Africa, China... but what on earth is happening here? Complacency, isolation, disillusionment... even the little things that we "do for God" seem tainted by our own ambitions and lack of follow-through. The relationships we have seem shallow and dependent on circumstances. Mentors and disciples seem non-existent.

Why? I don't even want to get into all the reasons... Perhaps it's comfortability, addictions, secrets, sin, workaholicism, boredom, fears...

But what Josh and I talked about was what are we doing about it? Are we just giving the Church the finger and having our own "faith" apart from everyone else? (I've tried it-- it seems that it mostly leads to a lack of interest in God or the Bible...) Is it worth it to be a part of something we don't completely agree with in order to try to be more like the image of the Church that Jesus gave us? How much power do we have? Are we to be lost in the politics of an outdated institution? Or can we help guide our elders and youth to seeking the Lord's will--

I've had about a year off from any real participation in "ministry". But all that's about to change. I know it's imperfect, because WE'RE imperfect. I know that I'm going to contribute to the imperfection... but I have a voice to add. I have others to mentor. I have much to learn-- and many who can teach. But I vow to be the one to ask. Will you mentor me? Will you be real with me? Will you teach me all you know of God? Will you teach me how to be true to myself and to others? Will you teach me how to love? to endure? to give? to receive?

What will you do?