![]() ![]() ![]() And then there were the things that might one day come in handy, but we really hope to not have to use: a pair of crutches, a geriatric shower stall chair.Īs I plumbed the depths of dust and dirt, disgusted by this useless accumulation of oh-so-much junk, I began to think of the invisible debris cluttering the recesses of my mind. It was all lookin’ good.īut my meticulous Merry Maid-conscience nagged, “What about the attic?” So I grudgingly trudged upstairs to tackle ten years’ worth of detritus: such objects of obsolescence as VHS and cassette tapes mismatched, castoff kitchen utensils from our son’s college apartment random odds and ends flung into the nearest box in deadline-beating desperation when we moved ten years ago. So, baseboards and ceiling fans were dusted, closets purged, carpets steam cleaned, tile floors polished. ![]() Without the typical time constraints of years past, I came face to face with the unvarnished facts: I had no excuse to overlook ANYTHING. With the outbreak of Covid-19 and shelter-in-place orders, I decided to jumpstart my annual spring cleaning. So how do we get there? Come along with me. The psalmist David ranks a pure heart on par with clean hands, a dynamic duo that ushers God’s children into His holy place and assures us of His blessing. God’s word doesn’t stop with sanitized, even sanctified, hands. They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior. Psalm 24:3-5 says, Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. Yet this hyper focus on hand hygiene has transcended a purely physical orientation in me, evoking loftier thoughts of Scripture passages dealing with clean hands. Who knows but that one second short of the magic 30 might cause a crafty Covid-19 escapee to take up illegal residence? So I am doing my part to help prevent the spread, honoring guidelines set up by medical authorities. ![]() But a global pandemic leaves little margin for error. Perhaps it is similar to the Aesop’s fable of “the boy who cried wolf.” ( ) Words of all kinds are powerful, and by randomly and needlessly saying things in the form of vows and oaths, what one says becomes meaningless and no one will take them seriously.I thought I’d learned all I needed to know about hand washing in kindergarten. Swearing falsely is clearly problematic since it appears that doing so is intended to mislead another, something that is clearly prohibited the verse in question, however, appears to focus upon someone who vows in vein, i.e., there is no need for him to do so. It involves having a conversation with Torah scholars who will investigate the situation and determine what the individual ought to do. In Judaism, there is a mechanism for absolving oneself of utterances that were invoked without thinking through what one is saying. “Hath not sworn deceitfully”-oaths and vows reveal a great deal about people, both from the perspective of what is said in the heat of the moment, and then whether the individual is careful to follow through on the commitment he has made, or the sentiment he expressed.And as for someone who does believe in God, the manner in which he fulfills Commandments between man and God should positively impact the manner in which he relates to Commandments between man and man.) (An individual who does not believe in God's existence, or at least has his doubts regarding whether there is a God, should still be able to take this standard to heart, in terms of what it might mean with regard to how s/he treats others. Therefore, how we relate to others, whose existences are very tangible and who share this world with us, should certainly be respectful and proper. The fact that God is conceptually abstract, should not make one think that He can be more easily taken advantage of than a flesh-and-blood human being. “Hath not taken My Name in vain”-when someone has respect for another, he will not do things that might imply his disdain for that individual, e.g., uselessly invoking his name, commanding his attention unnecessarily, or citing him improperly as a reference. ![]()
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