Romans 7:15-25a

Pentecost +8 – Year A

Romans 7:15-25a

The Message puts it: "What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary."

What Paul seems to have forgotten is that he is created in G*D's image. Do you remember G*D having times of remorse after the flood, promising never to do that again, looking for a reason to repent in Jeremiah 26:3, and regretful of making Saul king? Trust and dealing with the aftermath of mistakes is a big deal for G*D, and for us.

Sometimes G*D blesses and sometimes curses. And so do we. Sometimes blessings are rued and curses were correct. Sometimes not.

Even with all the dangers, would be assisted to move away from language demanding external commands to the more intangible, but ever so real, presence with one another. This will help us define and redefine what it means to be on the winning side, always a desire for validation and comfort? Better dealing with inconsistency and intuition is unlikely to come from the outside, life simply turns much too quickly. The best-intentioned command leaves much to be desired as the world turns. It is inappropriately institutionalized. It operates from a single perspective rather than in 3, 4, or 5-D. It is dissective rather than vivifying.

To party? <---> To fast? Now there's a question.

So what presence (not what command) do you carry into parties? into fasts? so you might be alive in either setting?