Skip to main content

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.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more