"Clay Feet..............................."

Visitation for my wife’s oldest brother was Tuesday evening in the church sanctuary, the funeral service taking place there as well, at one o’clock Wednesday afternoon. The deceased had fought in Okinawa during WWII, was wounded twice, awarded two Purple Hearts, and now laid to rest in military fashion, a couple of Army soldiers rendering Taps and presenting our nation’s flag to his widow. Family gathered from all over, giving opportunity to renew acquaintance with some that I hadn’t seen in years. Amusing to watch two of his sisters, who haven’t talked to each other for at least two decades, avoid each other throughout the entire ritual. I love them both and know well, from my own experience, that all too often: it happens… Our Bible class last night focused on the seventh chapter of Romans wherein the apostle Paul speaks of his own humanity yet being an issue in his Christian walk (or at least that’s how we who took part in the discussion so saw it and therefore how we examined it in our own life). The danger, it seems to me, is in (a) simply dismissing that aspect of our existence, somehow believing our declaration of faith absolves us of all sin, past, present, and future; or in (b) recognizing the truth of the matter, but accepting it as an inability to meet that which we think is required of us. What Jesus brings unto us through His victory over Satan is the restoration of what Adam originally knew in the Garden, not some sanctified state of existence in which it was impossible for him to stumble, but a “oneness” with the Creator, a relationship wherein mercy and grace were always available unto him if he would only face his Maker. Even so our own journey must be accomplished in truth and whether or not we utilize the healing waters provided remains, of course, a matter of our own choice……