Isqua Istari

Very few fail at that which is weak.

I want to investigate one of the greatest things that God has made. One of the highest metaphors. Arguably the means through which God chiefly reveals his love for us. The relationship of marriage.
I am by no means an expert on marriage, but through observing many who practice (or aspire to) it I have come to suspect that I understand marriage better than most. I also like to think of myself as a student of metaphors.

The more important a metaphor, the stronger and better God has made it. The metaphor of the nature of man is written into our very flesh and bones. That of light and truth, less powerfully so. Marriage, however, is written both in our bodies, and in our minds, and in all living creatures. Marriage is a draught so potent that the mere smell of it may overpower the strongest of men. It undoes the sinews and caulk of the mind and spirit. It reforms a man and a woman into something stranger and stronger than they were.

Why is marriage so important?
Marriage is the metaphor for the meaning of Life the Universe and Everything. Mankind was designed, destined, concieved, created, trained, and redeemed for one purpose, to be the Bride of Christ. There is no greater purpose, no higher meaning than this. It is the means through which God conveys our menaing.

It is for this reason that marriage (or the unwilling lack therof) is the chief source of grief and pain in the world. One can not mar a stone as one can mar a tree. One can not mar a tree as one can mar an animal. One can not mar an animal, as one can mar a man, nor can anything be cruelly touched as a woman. The perfection of marriage is what enables its corruption.
Therefore, I implore the wed and the unwed, beware lest you distort God’s words, written in your actions.

For many fail at noble things.

I believe Toad’s mention of the topic of fogriveness bears special notice.
Two principles are evident in the working of the forgiveness of sins. The first is the acnowlegement of our guiltiness, the second being the graciousness of God. That God should forgive us only if we admit to each sin is absurd enough to be laughable. Man has not the breadth of mind to compas his own tresspasses. The grace of God covers all sins, and “love covers a multitude of sins”.
What then is the purpose of having a law at all, if it is to be discarded when failiure is acnowleged? The answer is that it is not. Jesus came to fulfill the law, and thus if we live in Him we must also fulfill the law, anything less is blasphemy of the Name by which we are called. To be a christian is to accept defeat, not only at the hands of God, but at our own hands, for we can not live the way we ought. This is why confession of sin is so vital, literally neccecary for life. We confess to God that we have erred and fallen short because. “The law of the Spirit of Life as set us free from the law of sin and death.” and thus any shortcommings are not the fault of our parents, or The Curse, or of God or Satan, but of our own free will. God does not want us to confess so that he is free to forgive us, as if God is bound! God commands confession (as all of his commands) so that we may be perfected. Confession acnowleges the standard of perfection, and how we have rebelled against it.

Thus, forgiveness is free. But Christians are slaves, not to sin, but to God.

As a matter of protocol, I’m informing you all that we got comment spammed. I blame Scholl. One of these days, I’ll find someone who writes the things to send out comment and e-mail spam, and I might actually just wring their neck… maybe I’ll use a garrote, made from some of Ziggy’s fiberwire.

First off, I’m not dead. In fact, I’m so not dead, that Mollie and I just had my mom and sister Alison up for Thanksgiving! Just a week after they came, we also put up our very first Christmas lights, indoor and outdoor. Check out the pictures here!

So, I was walking through Albertson’s the other day, and saw a book entitled “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Homeschooling.” I realize that this is just a brand name, but really, homeschooling is not for idiots. I was homeschooled from 1st to 12th grade, and I and many other people like to think I didn’t turn out too bad, and that’s all thanks to the hard work and dedication of my very sensible, intelligent parents. This is not to say that you need to be a genius to homeschool, because you don’t, but you certainly need to be better than a “complete idiot.” Needless to say, that title offended me a bit.

One last thing, Dr. Hood talked in Paul’s Letters today about grace, and said that grace is given after an acknowledgement of sin, and requires that acknowledgement before it will be given. I’m not certain that I agree completely that grace, defined as “a free gift I don’t deserve” in simple terms, is necessarily contingent on an acknowledgement of sin… it seems to me that Acts 16:31 suggests that all is necessary is belief: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” On the other hand, there are a number of passages in Paul’s Letters that mention confessing (often with your mouth), which definitely implies an admission of sin. I’m not completely sure what to think on the matter… Any thoughts?