S-S-scaredy-cat

 

Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (I Peter 1:13-16)

Returning to the theme I used on Sunday, you know how so many of the horror/slasher movies work. A bunch of people explore some old house or other forbidden or forbidding place. Some stereotypical dumb blond (whether blond or not) goes up the stairs, or down the stairs, separating herself  (or himself) from the rest of the gang, and you just want to shout “Don’t do that you stupid (insert unkind label of your preference.)”

That’s the sort of thing the prophets and angels probably shout as they watch us bumble around like blithering idiots, though I hope they leave off the unkind labels.

“Don’t drink/eat/inject that!”

“Oh, please, don’t go there.”

“Not a.g.a.i.n!”

But we tell ourselves, “I’ll be fine,” and then end up crying for help.  How much easier our lives would be if we were wiser than the folk in those stupid horror movies. But there’s a part of us that is so sure that the answer to the mystery, the prize, or the escape is up or down those stairs and not back the way in which we came, and, after all, we’re not as stupid as the people in those movies, and (anyway) it’s not one those movies. They never happen in real life. Except for all the time.

At least some of us are so careful, we wear masks and wash our hands to avoid catching COVID-19, but wallow in moral filth in what we watch, read, and listen to. God says, repeatedly, “Don’t go up those stairs,” and we wave back at Him, proclaiming that it’s our life, we’ll do what we want. We’re strong. We know what we’re doing. Why is He such a s-s-scaredy-cat? But He, and the prophets and angels – they’ve all seen this in too many movies and books. The good news is that God rides in and rescues us, always at His own cost, but also often at great cost to us, as we go through the rest of our lives with the scars from spiritual rape or soulical assault.