The imitation of God is fragile (Judges 2,6-end, Friday After Ascension Day, BCP Lectionary)

‘…And there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel…And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim: and the forsook the Lord God of their fathers.’And all this happened after the faithful generation under the leadership of Joshua, after they had entered the promised land.
 
Forgetting the ‘Sacred meaning of life’ happens so easily to us. This is a symbolic verse: when a generation of religious observance disappears how the next generation is in steep decline. Spirituality, sacred wisdom, ‘unity’ disintegrates.
 
They ‘followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord.’
 
This also points to that the nature of the human being is to ‘mirror’ its social and cultural milieu. That is why it is important to mirror the otherness (one-ness!) of our God. We, Christians need to live with a sense that ‘God is our environment’. We should teach our children that the imitation of God is fragile. May the joy of faithfulness lead us and bring upon us a renewal of our faith!
 
11.05.2018