July 19, 2007
Keep it Simple
When the last Harry Potter books hit the shelves an over zealous letter carrier accidentally delivered some books too early. With the final book in the series now coming out the Postal Service has taken precautions to make sure Harry doesn’t arrive before his appointed time. I find it humorous that ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ is just under 800 words, but the government’s simplified instructions telling letter carriers how to deliver the book is 25 pages long. Reading portions of the Old Testament I often get bogged down in the lengthy instructions and repetition. I suppose the scribes of Leviticus and Numbers thought they too were writing simplified instructions.
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3 comments:
Gail;
-----People love to get technical with each other, especially when legal risk concerning another’s interest may be involved. I’ve worked with people, watched them handle situations, and dealt with them in meetings enough to know that we are not creatures trained to easily find the heart of a matter, where principle is effective. From there, when principle is conscientiously applied to the task at hand it produces the best possible outcome. But we are each so aware of our own personal circumstances, viewpoints, and habits that we are more than a bit blinded to the essence of situations that are not personally our own. So manuals become necessary to introduce us to the unfamiliar facts and circumstances and all of the procedures which effect the safeguards and accomplishments required.
-----I read the Books of the Law in the Old Testament when I was in High School. I was both amazed at how many different situations they covered and how many more they could have covered. Yet, I kept noticing that the thought behind each of their rules seemed to be the giving of careful attentiveness to the safety and benefit of anyone you may effect, especially your God. It knits like a thread through the Law and develops a principle that is applicable to the rest of the life’s situations, which application, of course, the Pharisees were more than happy to institute into further law.
-----But Christ broke us free from all those legal details to internalize the principle of the Law into our hearts - to love your neighbor as yourself, and to love your God with all your being. He even gave us the Holy Spirit to help us produce the effects of this love among each other. But we are so stuck in limitations and faultiness of our humanity that He also had to write us much more instruction about how to accomplish that love. Even at that we have arrived at our place today where one really needs to shrink the meaning of love a bit before it fit’s our habitual practices. It isn’t that love or principle fails, it is that we, as tiny, faulty creatures are so very finite in our knowledge, understanding, vision, ambition, and selflessness. Therefore, we still need much instruction, otherwise we may hardly consider another’s interest at all.
good site
Anonymous,
A compliment is a good way to start the day. Thanks.
Gail
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