Glory be to God for Bounds and Limits.

The Ten Commandments are not multiple choice.

Indeed, over all the glory there will be a canopy. It will serve as a shade by day from the heat and a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.. Isaiah 4: – 5-6

Glory be to God for bounds and limits.
Thanks be for fences
and for barbed wire
padlocks, bolts,
and abrupt
unmoving
dead ends
for stop signs
ramparts split
margin, hedge and rim
shore, bank and brow.

For prohibition
inhibition and command.
I praise Thee for enclosure
circumference, courtyard
croft, crib, corral and coop
pen, balustrade and fold.

For chamber
hutch and manger and stall
for palisade and parapet
trellis, enclave, wall.

“To be properly bound
is to be properly free,”
Says Luther of his God.
So blessed be Thee
for bindings, wraps,
and swaddling cloths
for all quilts, covers
counterpane
for lids, roofs, tents
hulls, shell, and pod
and all that partitions
holy from profane.

Thank you
kind and gentle God
for edges, parameters
and the delicate beauty
of borders thin
that separate this
from that
yes from no
the skin
from the juice
and Thou, Sweet Trinity
from me.

Oh, Mighty Fortress
glad hosannas raise to Thee
for the secret custody
of house, stable, shrine,
temple and fountain sealed
where Love tabernacles
under Thy bright wing
In shielded sanctuary

Praise and laud
forever until Thee
Oh Thou art a most exalted Canopy!



In Thy strong shelter
sleeps the virgin
safe and free.

All creatures
great and small
be wary.

The symbol of an enclosed garden is often used to describe Mary, or the church as the an enclosure, a walled garden, a city, a square, a castle – correspond to the idea of temenos, or a sacred and circumscribed space,entity. Such images may also symbolize the life of the individual, and particularly the inner life of their thoughts. A walled garden, which can be entered only through a small portal, symbolizes the difficulties and obstacles that must be overcome prior to a higher level of spiritual development. A fountain sealed in a walled garden symbolizes constancy and truth under difficult circumstances. -The Dictionary of Symbols

A garden locked is my sister, my
bride, A locked, a fountain sealed.
Song of Solomon 4:12

The paradox of mortals is our immense worth and holiness on the one side and our pervasive sinfulness and brokenness on the other. It is because we are both so holy and so profane that we need boundaries. The Beloved knew this and mercifully gave us guidelines and protection in the form of commandments. Do this. Do not do
that. So, you can be fit for love. So, you can love without destroying each other. God said, “Here is how you can love and not leave chaos in the wake, or broken hearts strewn around you.”

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Is It I, Lord?

“One of you will betray me.” The question hangs in the air.
The followers look at each other. And back at Jesus.
This week, I will share a few voices from that evening as the disciples
ponder this alarming accusation.

SIMON

This is a meal of liberation, and he speaks of a betrayer? What is wrong, my Lord?
Here I am, your Simon. You are the one who bids us to joy and laughter. Such long faces!
This sobriety does not befit the one who gives us mirth and life. Being with you is just so much fun.

Before you, I never knew such exuberance and high spirits. My foot was heavy, weighed down with many cares. Now, I run lightly. I laugh until my sides ache. I no longer worry about what others think of me. You cut loose all the voices within that condemned and taunted me. Fear vanished. Every day is a new adventure. I once thought happiness was a dream known only to children. I hoped only for a good living as I grew old. Now, I have grown younger in your presence, bolder, and full of joy. Sometimes, I just can’t stand so much happiness and weep for its sheer beauty.
But, my Lord, come smile, lift the cup. My brothers, he must be joking.

JAMES, The LESSER

The wind blows through the open window.
Somewhere, an animal screams.
A wolf leaps for the lamb’s throat.
The hawk soars across the moon’s passive face.

So he is betrayed. Will the Earth note it? Care?
Will I, James?
Betrayal is the way of things.
Whoever said the universe is trustworthy?
Thieves and murderers wait by the roadside.
Lovers are unfaithful. Children deceitful.
I should have known it would come to this.
For a few moments, I hoped he could change things,
had begun to believe there was safety in creation.

Yet, look at me, a creature myself.
How many times have I been false?
How many times have I sold out, given up, turned
away in anger, disappointment, or jealousy, and given
those around me to the powers of death,
the beasts and executioners who reside in me?

I am numb.

Oh Christ, don’t let them kill you!
I came with you, believed
staked all I had on you.
Lord, it is I who am betrayed!

PHILIP

He sits there so calmly with his arms outstretched. I hurt to see the pain in his face. His palm is open, accepting. There is no anger, no bitterness, no revenge, no resistance. He is like a lamb going to slaughter. I see only great sorrow.

What kind of man would announce to his betrayer the knowledge of his treachery? He loses all advantage. He may as well open his chest to the knife.
What kind of man is he? How is it that after spending so many days and nights together, he is still somehow a stranger? Despite his commonness and accessibility, he remains mysterious, ineffable.

What am I doing here? How did I get mixed up with these people? I am in over my head. I never thought it would go this far, get this out of hand. Someone is apt to get killed. I want to run back down the roads and valleys, run through the crowds, the villages, along the shores. I want to run back in time and space to where the word betrayer does not hang like a noose over this table.

Is It I, Lord first appeared in 1986 in the Presbyterian Survey.

This liturgical drama was initially commissioned by Westminster Presbyterian Church in Topeka, KS

Copyright 1994 Loretta Ross. All rights reserved.

Knowledge Frenzy

To find peace and happiness we have to let go of the effort to know,

because we really do not know. -Adyshanti

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Lent 2   The Body of Our Humiliation 

 For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. It is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. Philippians 3: 19-4-1 

One of the most painful experiences a person may encounter is humiliation. We do all we can to escape the possibility, let alone actual experiences of humiliation. You may remember a few occasions of humiliation and shame. These memories stick around.  Humiliation may be a moment of embarrassment or deeply soul crushing. 

Humiliation assaults our sense of worth and dignity. It signals the limbic part of our brain, which is self-protecting, and tells us to fight, flee, or freeze in the face of our disgrace.  

Dignity violations leave deep wounds. The scars of ridicule and scorn may disfigure us. Jesus’s choice to endure such humiliation is remarkable. He chose the most painful path, which appeared to be the total failure of his mission, to show his followers that humiliation is not the last word.  

Our culture has become a global forum of blaming and humiliating each other. We are hardwired to retaliate to such indignities. We have little appreciation of the depth and breadth and tender goodness of the human heart. So many times, it has been scorned, mocked, beaten and tossed in an alley. 

We seek success, wins, the “Greatest of All Time,” to be the best and the first. We do all we can to keep our failures hidden in filtered selfies and struggle to find our sense of self-worth.   

Who do we think we are fooling? 

Our egocentric experience is only a small slice of reality. This is why we need each other and to learn from each other. “Alongside the protection reaction of fight or flight, we are also hardwired for primal empathy, an emotional connection that fosters openness to others and is needed to take in each other’s experiences at the core of healthy social development.
Donna Hicks, Dignity – Its Essential Role in Resolving Conflict, p 23. 

Humiliation both challenges our innate dignity and opens a door to humility.  In the painful sacrifice of our egos, we are liberated from our pride and desperate need for esteem, control and fame. Here in the heart of our disgrace – we may discover new freedom to be simply ourselves, our raggedy, messed up, imperfect, beautiful selves. Here,as Paul tells the Philippians, our body of humiliation is conformed to the glory in the body of Christ. 

In your midst I will leave a humble and lowly people; those who remain will seek their refuge inYahweh. Zephaniah 3:12