Boundaries

 “We know that the law is good, provided that one uses it as law, with the understanding that law is meant not for a righteous person but for the lawless and unruly, the godless and sinful, the unholy and profane, those who kill their fathers or mothers, murderers, the unchaste, sodomites, kidnappers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is opposed to sound teaching.” 1 Timothy 1:8-10.

Boundaries. It is hard to make sense of activities and events at times. How do we try to make sense of it all? In some ways, life is like bowling. There are gutters that our ball needs to stay out of. Once in a gutter, a ball only has one path to follow. (Yes, some have been able to have their ball jump the gutter.) Hitting pins is like how well we do with who we are. Some days I bowl a ten. Normally, though, I’d rate myself 6 or 7 on a scale of 1 to 10. When I throw a gutter ball, I don’t want to do that again. I think about my approach, my release, and what I was doing to bowl so poorly.  It serves no purpose. Gutters are boundaries. Today’s scripture reading talks about the “law,” or for Paul, a Jewish person and Roman citizen, the Mosaic Laws and Roman rules he lived by. The law is good, and one must look at themselves and make sure they are not counted amongst the lawless, unruly, the godless…..on the path….