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Attitude

             “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

            “You shall have no other gods before me.

            “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

             “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. (Exodus 20:2-7)

 

            A little while ago, I decided I would lie down while the tomato paste was in the canner. It’s not unusual for me to pray for a short time while I’m resting, but today I seemed to be in an especially foul mood, probably because I wasn’t getting anywhere on the blog post I was working on, and several tasks I want to get done weren’t getting done.

            It's not unusual for me to go to God to complain or whine, but today seemed worse to me. I was going to God to be ugly. I wasn’t seeking anything from Him. I wasn’t taking heartache or a bruised spirit to Him for comfort, I was just being U.G.L.Y. – mean spirited, grouchy, and cranky. I know that God loves me, and we’re supposed to cast all our cares on Him. I get all that.

            But we’re talking about God, and how we (at least I) treat Him. When the priesthood was set up in Moses’ day, there were special garments the priests had to wear. Sometimes, they had to change their garments several times during some task,  When I was young, church clothes were the best clothes we had. Now, we seem to think that what we wear to church shouldn’t matter. God will be satisfied with whatever we decide (as if He has no choice.) And, after all, if we don’t bother dressing up then those who can’t afford to buy fancy clothes won’t feel out of place. Yes, there’s something positive in that. But what if behind those socially kind sentiments there’s something we aren’t quite so willing to admit? What if our concern for our fellow man is really a justification, but the real reason is that we don’t choose to show God any respect? Is the outfit or the attitude we wear when we approach God indicative of how much we value and love Him, or is it indicative of our disrespect?

            I’m talking about day-to-day, normal time with God, not the times when we run to Him in pain, fear, or even anger. And I’m loathe to suggest some sort of mind-numbing ritual that becomes a stumbling block in our relationship with Him. But, I find myself wondering whether we should deal with ourselves before we deal with God. I’ve done something like this in the past. There have been times when I imagined a little video game me, stomping my feet, shaking my fist, and screaming. After a short time, I’d stop to consider – had I acted silly enough for long enough to be civil? If I had, then I’d take up a conversation with God. If I hadn’t, the little video game me went through another temper tantrum. I think maybe she needs to make a comeback.

 

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