This is a picture of a peony. It is pink, pouffy, pretty, and incredibly girlie. I picked it because: (1) God made it grow in my yard, and (2) today's post is very girlie.
Just so you know, I am reading through the Bible, and I am in Leviticus right now (you may have noticed that a few entries back). Often I will choose a verse of the day from where I am reading, and today it comes from Leviticus:
When a woman has her regular flow of blood, the impurity of her monthly period will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean till evening.
Leviticus 15:19
If you go on to read the following verses, you find that anything this woman lies on or sits on or touches will be considered unclean, and anyone who touches her will be unclean. If a man approaches her for sex, he will be unclean for seven whole days.
Do you see what this means? Where has this law been all my life?
"Unclean" means that she has total reprieve from household duties for the seven days she is bleeding. As in, why would she clean if everything she touches becomes unclean? That means no cleaning and no laundry! Are you getting the idea? She can't cook for others, because everything her hands touch is unclean.
Do you see the beauty, the absolute wonderful marvel of God's Law? He says: leave the woman alone, for goodness sake, while she isn't feeling well. Stay away from her and give her a break from her daily routine.
If we followed God's Law in this, I'll bet there would be almost no PMS. I think PMS comes from trying to act normal when you don't feel normal, an unnatural strain that God never asked us to undergo.
Also, there is no condemnation for this uncleanness. The woman didn't have to offer any sin sacrifices at the end of her seven days or anything like that. All she had to do was rest a week, then wash and get back to business. I could be so happy to live under this system...
First, I have to tell you I love your flower pictures; they're beautiful. Second, you almost make me wish I were still having my periods - well not quite, but almost. Thinking about this, which I hardly ever do anymore, it occurred to me that they used to make me feel more grounded, earthy, i.e., attached to the earth. I think that a lot of the changes that take place as we age start to distance us from the earth. Our eyesight and hearing become less acute, our bodies become less strong. We are, in many ways, not the people we once were. In the time and place we live that is seen as a very bad thing indeed; and we go to great lengths to try to compensate and recover our younger selves. Maybe, though, God meant for this distancing process in order to ease us from this home to our final home.
ReplyDeleteThat is an amazing perspective, Chris. Lately, having teenager, I've been thinking about how it seems that God throws some rocks in the path of our relationships to help us be "ready" for them to move out on their own. I'm pretty sure that you are right, and He helps us get ready for the next worl by dimming our senses in the present one. The result is that we are better able to focus on Him as we age... which should lead us to respect and revere our elders all the more, as the Bible tell us to do (Leviticus 19:32).
ReplyDeleteThe wisdom of the aged is, in great part, related to their ability to perceive things beyond our present. The world today is excessively focused on the immediate, the instant, the material; it is a much more hostile place for the aged than (I think) God approves. I would like to see the church esteem the wisdom of the aged with more respect, and create a bastion for them where they are appreciated and honored. My feeling is that even church culture is becoming based in the experience of the youth, and while the youth are undeniably our future, it won't be much of a future if they never learn to be wise and to look beyond themselves.