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.”

Read Spring Holy Ground Issue Here