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Systems

             Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble. (Psalm 119:165)

 

            Have you ever used a butter knife for a screwdriver, and ended up with a damaged knife? Or tried to push open a door that must be pulled? Have you ever read or listened to something about three steps to ______, or any other self-help material? Or tried to put together something that is described as “some assembly required”? I recently replaced a flip phone with a stupid smart phone, which I have yet to figure out how to make it let me answer an incoming phone call or turn off an alarm if I don’t already have the screen active. One of my difficulties with a certain philosophical/political ideology is that it maintains that what we need to do is build a system that will make it impossible for people to do bad things – if for no other reason than that it makes it “unnecessary” to do them.

            The thing that all the examples above have in common is that they tend to not work. Some don’t work because they’re specifically designed not to work. Others don’t work because the design has a flaw.

            Religions and laws, including the Mosaic Law, are systems. They explain what one must do, must not do, should do, should not do, can do, and can’t do. Of course, Christianity and Judaism both have God as part of the system, at least in theory. And if you live according to a system perfectly, life is likely to go along nicely. But the moment you refuse or fail to act precisely as the system demands, you stumble. Some folks say sinning is stumbling, but that’s the point; sinning is not following the system.

          So again, what David is saying isn’t some magical formula. If you do A, B, C, D, and E, God will pour blessings down on you. Doing A, B, C, D, and E is like baking something. If you put the ingredients in and do what you’re told to, you’ll get a tasty cookie, cake, pie, etc. If you use old baking powder, or salt instead of sugar,  you won’t. The blessing is within the ingredients and the system.

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