The pull of land

James Cathcart August 31, 2021 0 1

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Deuteronomy 4: 1-9 (NIVUK)

1 Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.

3 You saw with your own eyes what the Lord did at Baal Peor. The Lord your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, 4 but all of you who held fast to the Lord your God are still alive today.

5 See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. 6 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ 7 What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? 8 And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?

9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

Keeper of all that is,

Guard our hearts and minds

as we negotiate what it is to live on land with others.

We must respect your precious land

and all those who stay on it.

We confess when we have shown precious little respect.

What have we let fade from our hearts?

What are our heart-worn, heartsore, heartbroken hearts in fear of forgetting?

Have we forgotten the fear of God in our bones that should enliven and inspire us to greatness and kindness?

Have we forgotten the duty we owe to one another and all living things?

Have we forgotten who we were made to be?

Just who we could become if we lived with the land not against it?

With one another rather than against one another?

Stir and rake our hearts Lord

that we might be compassionate

and caring

and aware of the cost of striving for god-like power

and god-like dominion.

You call us not to subdue the land so much as to be subdued by it — by the beautiful terror and wonder of it.

Warn us, encourage us, renew us.

Amen.