God's grace

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If I may -

it is definitions again.

There are [minimum, we all know it is more complex, I simplify here] two Old Laws and two New Laws.

There is the Mosaic Grundgesetz, the decalogue which it has been pointed out may be wrapped up neatly in the first two.

This nor Jesus nor any credible follower says is obsolete [we can quibble about images later, though I think it can be shown that neither icons nor front yard bathtub plaster Maries come under the ban], and in fact he says he came not to destroy but to put teeth in the law. Very bad translation tha.

Then there is Leviticus plus augments and adaptations, argued and codified by one generation of lawyers after another.

THAT is the "Old Law" we are told is not binding. Making Natty Boh right

Then we get, let's say, the Sermon on the Mount, New Law, which - interestingly - summarizes nicely in the same two commandments out of the primary Old Law. Makling leejosepho right.

And finally we have the commandments and ordinances and precepts and rules native to each of several subsets of Christianity, little different in some cases from the spirit of the Stage II Old Law.

Which means I was right when I said elsewhere some peoplde just CANNOT let up on making rules.

One of the Commandments is to carry a shovel with you to cover up your poop after you are done making a poop. (Deut 23:13) Do you carry a shovel? And if not, are you obedient?

Are those that cover up their poop after pooping favored over those who do not?

ruveyn

Some say Scripture is archaic, but all should be able to see the underlying principles there ... so ...

I have a working flush valve on my toilet, and I use it thoughtfully ... and I would not expect you to carry your own along if/when coming for a visit ... and then I would also later just quietly take care of the matter for you if you might have happened to forget to flush ... and I believe our Father in the heavens would be pleased all-around.

I was raised under the teaching that "the old law" meant the Sabbath was on Sabado (Spanish) and that we Christians had somehow been "set free" of that archaic practice and were now keeping the pagan sun-worship day as our own concocted "sabbath" for which we had further made "blues laws" to be sure the entire world would keep it ...

... and God cried.

As in the old story, laughing with one eye, crying with the other.

It can be both amusing / gratifying and saddening / frustrating to see how your subjects your parishioners your students your patients your children your pets your houseplants go and grow, their nature again and again overriding and hiding the higher principles you try to communicate.

I will spare you all the times I have said X and the hearer has run with the exact opposite.

But, back to students children houseplants, he designed us and the garden, all accounted for in the plan.

Relevant here Matthew 18 21 on.

Oh yes, I know ... and I occasionally even wonder what some of our own teachers have since thought! I do know about at least one, though: The man who first sent me to "AA" ended up having no idea what to do or say after I instead came to see A.A. So, sometimes we can also look back and see even that kind of Providence at work.

Whew.