daily life as life goes on . . .

Out of the week’s end.  Into a new day.

This day has new restrictions and new hopes.  The rules are towards thriving and surviving.

But that is not how some have come to understand the rules. 

Or so yesterday’s parking lot chatter revealed.  The people, socially distanced, talked of the impoverishment of social distance, of the contradictions within rules, and of the desire for an end to suffering.

And so I look out my upper floor window this morning, awaiting the sunrise.

This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it!

“Regardless or irregardless”.

OK, in relation to holiness – there is the transcendent part to God that says we will never fully understand God nor be like God.  We call this being holy!  And yes, being holy in relation to God and people means that a core discussion of God’s attributes starts with a bubble we call holiness.

As we peer through that bubble, we see so much more of the mixture and melting of who God is.  In that sense, is holiness an attribute or merely a description?

We also define holiness as the moral side of life.  That refers more to following a path of rightness – that reflects a holy God.  I wonder if that is then governed by a God who is love (and many other things) before we talk about the activities of holiness?

My brother always has some sentence in our conversations that gets me thinking (or maybe its the whole conversation)!

The other day the line was – “Love came first, then holiness.”

The statement was in relation to what we perceive of God.  How we look at God’s attributes.  Where we place our own emphasis in relation to modelling God.

My religion states that I should be holy as God is holy (this is a God Statement).  Completely other than anything around me.  Only striving to be what God is.

Not that I am then God.  God is God and I am not.

The question then points to a state of being that is reflective.  We see images and settings in which holiness is displayed.  We are asked to reflect on those instances and to expect that a principled life will derive from them.  In some instances, the word of God becomes the rule of God in very plain language.  In other instances, the actions of God become the ground from which we derive our rules.

BUT . . . the big interrupter word in life.

If holiness is reflective, what is it reflecting?

Which brings me to the statement Jesus made – “Love the Lord you God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength”.  This is a statement of communion and communication.  Prior to statements of holiness and laws of direction and decision comes LOVE. 

Oops, I forgot to talk about the Trinity, and the joy of contact, and fulfilment in passion for others, and that great Latin phrase “et. al.” (“and all the rest” that goes along with the word LOVE).

I guess that’s for another day.

I never really understood grammar until I was into my fourth language.

Not that I am fluent in any of the languages (some even wonder about my Englishing abilities).

A noun is a thing – more than an action.  You can attach words to a noun to describe the word further.  And you can string nouns together with little words that help you know if one word is attached to another word, or if you are comparing things.  And you add little squiggles to help you know if you need to pause, or continue with caution in your reading.

Now then, there is the verb.  An action word that derives from other words.  Sometimes a verb is just a word that stands by itself.

In strict adherence to grammar rules, the grammarian becomes agitated over crossing lines that have stood the test of time.  Often this refers to nouns becoming verbs.

Or more rightly, proper nouns (what we might call trademark words or phrases) becoming verbs.

All that to say, I’m still trying to figure out what “COVIDING” means.  I get the noun – we have pictures of COVID19 and scientific descriptions.  We sort of know what the noun is.

But Coviding?  Is that related to mental health issues?  Or perhaps systemic racism?  Does this verb conjure up climate change?  Are we talking about health regulations?  Maybe this is about survival food preparations in the midst of quarantine?

Seems to me that when you are Coviding, there is very little to do with a virus and or the mutated state of that virus.  Rather, I sense we are talking about the effect and not the noun.

I can live with that – I would just like someone to define what we are talking about!