10 "Alignments" (What if you could align your life with the center of the universe?)

Saturday, March 23, 2024 (Lent Day 34)

Tomorrow our youngest is officially "middle-aged." When I turned 35, I gleefully told a friend 10 years ahead of me, "Hurrah, I'm finally middle-aged."

She looked at me, laughed, and said, "Forget it, youngster. That won't happen until your 40s." haha

Think about the passing of time, one tick of the clock, one day after another, and the blur of years already spent. Today is Day 24834 for me. Check out your own day here. That represents a host of opportunities, taken or squandered, forgettable or remarkable.

I'm coming back to life after the flu. W and I walk our 1-mile circuit (just once). It's the first walk for me this week. Going uphill takes my breath away but it feels SO good to move in the sunshine and fresh air.

In the Padma Hotel parking lot, building material is waiting to be slid down the metal chute to a construction site below. Workers send one item at a time - one concrete block, one bag of cement, one shovelful of dirt or gravel ... to be caught by men waiting below. Thus supplies that are impossible to deliver through narrow lanes and down precipitous slopes end up where they are needed. Clever.

Yesterday, W and I read through the Palm Sunday talk, accompanied by a paroxysm of coughing. Oh well. Hopefully he doesn't catch it and I'm better tomorrow. He sends a heads up to the team that someone else may have to deliver the message. His throat is raspy since yesterday.

Lew heads back to Jakarta, finished with his comps and relieved to have achieved a big step in his doctoral work. Next comes his dissertation. I look forward to reading what he writes. He has a sharp mind and is an articulate communicator. I think he'd be an outstanding lecturer; we can recommend him highly when he sends off resumes.

This morning I rework the faded arrangement from last week. The scraps are ready for composting.

But a cheery bouquet of leftovers enhances the entry.

I haul out my Bernina to hem a tablecloth from a linen square bought in Bali in February. There's enough for a slim fringed scarf, too. As soon as art-making, music, crafting, or cooking restarts, I'm coming back to life. Hurrah.

By mid-morning, the dogs are snoozing at our feet. Their recall of a late meal or resentment at a skipped walk is nil. They have total confidence in us though they rarely know what we're planning. When they see us, they react with excitement for whatever we offer: a pat, a treat, or a "good boy/good girl!" Oh, may I greet the words and activity of my Master the same trusting way.

Without the leisure of novels, I have loads of time to think about big topics. How about the 10 Commandments?

--- what I'm thinking--- (skip if you want)

The list of 10 Commandments used to be posted on plaques and monuments in public spaces. Don't steal. Don't lie. Don't make idols. Don't ... don't ... don't. Then people who despise religion insisted on their right not to view those basics of civilized society. And the boundary signs were removed.

Consider this: do those people really want a thief to take their stuff (stealing)? Are they thankful when someone lies to harms them or their friends (false witness)? Did they thrive if their mom or dad slept around with other people (adultery)? Of course not. They appeal to the courts to defend themselves against lawbreakers and use the law to defend their lawlessness.

Society starts to break down without mutual expectations of how people behave toward each other. Then comes a disintegration of safety and collaboration. Without shared values and consequences, life becomes a free-for-all of bitter attacks and vindictive behavior. "Hurt me once, I hurt you twice."

Jesus said all the commandments are wrapped up in these 2: "Love God. Love others." Those who love a caring, benevolent, and righteous God naturally act with kindness and goodness to each other. 

What if everyone regard the 10 Commandments - not as rules to be broken, but as our "10 alignments" with the nature and holiness of God? For example: 

• Make no idols: although creation is worthy of wonder, only God is worthy of worship and the One and Only cannot share his place. 
• No coveting: God made you unique and provides what you need; envy and comparison rots your bones. 
• No adultery: it's healthier physically and provides family stability (esp if there are kids) when adults are faithful and monogamous. 
• Etc. ("Read more" below.)

--- Done for now --- but thinking about this all day ---

By lunch, I'm hungry for a creamy pasta sauce to go with a side of citrus-infused papaya. During Ramadan, Muslim cooks can't taste food so going out is a waste of time and effort.

We browse the cabinet: do we have linguine? OOOOh, look! 2 packs of dried Italian gnocchi. I cook a batch and taste it - the oil in it is off. (Oops, the date is 2018. Toss into the garbage.) The other package is dated 2022. These came back with us from Kenmore and must have waited when our returning suitcases were overloaded. Anyhow, one's still "fresh". Hmmm.

I sprinkle smoked paprika, pepper, and dried red peppers into hot water to reconstitute soy "bacon bits." After cooking and draining the gnocchi, I fry it in butter and add the "bacon." In a separate pot, I heat a cup of whipping cream and 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese (thanks, W). Stir the cheese sauce into the gnocchi and voila! That's the taste I was craving. I can't finish what's on my plate.

In the evening, I interview a potential intern for next year.

Sunday: Palm Sunday

I feel good enough to go to church. Titik has outdone herself with the palm fronds.

Another arrangement has purple and white flowers inside the palms.

Two little boys find each other and sit together outside the hall.

Partway through the morning, after speaking awhile, my cough returns. By the time we get home, my throat feels raw. W orders a #MrRoastman burger for himself and a grilled chicken burger for me. I bite into it but there's no chicken so I open it up.

Such a little piece of grilled chicken! I pull away the bread that doesn't cover meat. That's about 2/3 of the bun. What disappointing delivery from a restaurant known for great food. #mrroastmanbandung 

I reheat the leftover gnocchi for the missing meal. The day passes quietly. By nightfall, W offers a throat-numbing lozenge from his American stash to ease the pain. It burns before it numbs.

Monday (Lent Day 35)

W's caught it. His flu has taken 3 days to ramp up, just like mine did. Friday I told him he might feel sick about Sunday night. Yup. Last night it started to hit him.

The sun is rising as we leave the house.

I think about the earth's rotation, perfectly spun by the Master Mathematician day after day. The sun "moves" quickly! A block later it's near the tip of the Maj (high-rise on the next hill).

Construction is still going at the neighbor's. I'm fascinated by building and buildings.

I cough my way through our 1-loop walk, a few online meetings, and a (masked) trip to the grocer. Then I'm hungry. Oops, forgot breakfast and it's mid-morning.

I splash a scoop of overnight oats from the fridge and some yogurt into a bowl. 2 rambutan from our tree? Yes please. They are so sweet. How about an indulgence? Hot cocoa for the throat, almost the last pack from HEB in Austin.

I wonder what's making you say "AAAAAhhhh!" this morning. Someone making me say, "Argh!" is the plethora of mosquitoes on the Porch. I must have forgotten to slather my feet with repellent and am bitten a few times.

Read more: What's the big deal about the 10 Commandments anyhow?

[Moses twice records that God gave him ten commandments to align his people with his nature. (Exodus 20; Deuteronomy 5 is below.) The first five affirm the respect due God and the respect due parents by children. The final five keep people from self-harm and from harming others. God was making a nation from slaves, bringing a system of justice to those who had never known it.

Hey, hey, what would the world be like if everyone fully followed these instructions? You could trust your family utterly. A child could walk anywhere in complete safety. Women would know any stranger is helpful and caring ... imagine the freedom! And yet we persistently choose self-rule and self-interest, even when our choices hurt each other.] 

Here goes the list, with this preface:

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 

1. You shall have no other gods before me. [= I'm the one-and-only God. Don't give your allegiance to counterfeits who deceive you.]

2. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. [= Worshipping what I made instead of me will corrupt and distract you.]

3. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. [= My name/character is utterly good, utterly powerful, utterly knowing, utterly loving. There are consequences for maligning me.]

4. Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. 

Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. [= "You never got to rest, now I am freeing you from the tyranny of slavemasters. No more endless work for you!" Has there ever been another god who mandated rest rather than more duty, more sacrifice, more hardship? = magnificent!]

5. Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you. [= Our Heavenly Father sets us into families where we respect those caring for us.]

6. You shall not murder. [= God is the giver of life and humans are made in his image. So each person's life is precious to him.]

7. You shall not commit adultery. [= God is utterly faithful. When we are faithful, we reflect his nature.]

8. You shall not steal. [= Everything belongs to God. Taking what does not belong to us is taking from God.]

9. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. [= God is truth. So corruption of truth hurts us and our neighbor.]

10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor’s house or land, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” [= God is our provider, who meets our needs. Greed will warp our souls.]

[Moses continues:] These are the commandments the Lord proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep darkness; and he added nothing more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me. (Deuteronomy 5:6-22)