Second Commandment

God works in funny ways.  Today is my day to reflect on the Second Commandment: "You shall not make for yourself an idol..."  I do have lots of thoughts about this, but one of my favorite theologians puts them much better.  And it just happens I picked up her book, again, this week to re-read it for probably the 4th time.  Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith by Kathleen Norris.  If you have not read it, do.  It is one of the best books I have ever read.  And her chapter entitled 'Commandments' has some wonderful and insightful things to say about idols.  So, rather than passing her thoughts off as my own, I just want to share what she has to say.

'Jealousy' is a loaded word, and I used to cringe when I would hear the Ten Commandments begin with the injunction against idolatry: 'You shall not bow down to [idols] or worship them for I the Lord am a jealous God' (Exodus 20:5).  Human jealousy is a sign of fear.  Often, it indicates immaturity, or a maladaption of the ability to love.  God's jealousy is a different matter, more like a mother-love, the protective zeal of a lioness or mother bear for her young.  The word 'jealousy' has it roots in 'zealous,' denoting extreme enthusiasm and devotion, and God's jealousy retains the word's more positive aspects.  It helps us to trust.  Who, after all, would trust a God, a parent, a spouse, or lover, who said to us, 'I really love you, but I don't care at all what you do or who you become'?

Any relationship, to remain alive, requires at least two living participants.  In this case, a God who does not exist as a convenience, magically giving us what we want, or feel we deserve, but a God who simply IS - the ground of being, the great 'I Am.'  And with this God, experienced by the prophet Jeremiah as 'the true God...the living God' (Jer. 10:10), we can come into our own, no longer in fear of 'being nothing,' but people who can listen, who can change, who can be surprised.  Even surprised by a jealous God, who love us enough to care when we stray.  And who has given us commandments to help us find the way home.   (Page 86-87)

 Thank you, God, for your jealousy.  It helps me to remember how loved I truly am.  Amen.