sex – 11:3 Restoration

We prayed for weeks that the weather would be kind to us as outdoor weddings in June are subject to thunderstorms in the South. The day dawned picture perfect and the ceremony went off without a hitch under the oaks on the lawn of Lebanon Presbyterian Church in Winnsboro, SC. Our family was happy. We were married.

Or, were we?

Five months earlier, I was to go to the US Army Ranger School, and had a beautiful girl living with me that I planned to keep. So days before my departure, on a Wednesday, I spoke to her over lunch and we planned to see the Justice of the Peace on Friday after work to ‘get married.’ Two days later we had a piece of paper that said we were ‘married.’

Or, were we?

Lately, I have been pondering the chains of tradition and why they cause us such angst when we make a break from the accepted warped norms. I recall the first six months of our transition to Torah and remember multiple times, waking in a cold sweat and running to the kitchen table where my books were often laid out to be reassured once again that the Scriptures indeed say the Torah is forever and THE way of life. The Christian traditions of my fathers and the doctrines I learned in seminary and then parroted from the pulpit had indeed become chains upon my soul.

Now, don’t misjudge what I just said, because Christendom contains much, MUCH, truth, but mixed with that truth are pillar doctrines that are demonstrably false. The angst comes when we finally know, undeniably, that the pillar is wrong, yet we want to still cling to it even though we know we must remove it. Let me give you a practical example, then a real life theological example.

Tearing down walls…

Over the summer my school schedule lightened a bit, so I decided to do a little remodeling in the house. Central to the remodeling was the decision to open up the pantry/kitchen/living room area. To do so, I needed to remove two load bearing walls, something I have never done before.

I thought about the process for weeks. I would look at the walls, tap on them, picture how to do it. Continue reading “Musing: The angst inducing chains of tradition…”