Mamaw

“When God seems far away,” these words were written beside Psalm 139 in my great grandmother, Mamaw’s, bible. Tonight God seems far away. I am alone in Ohio - Grandma is in West Virginia so I am sleeping in her ultra-comfy bed. I found Mamaw’s bible on the table beside the bed and found two things of interest. One being Psalm 139, which I really needed to read right now. Being ‘home’ has lead to many travels on memory lane. It seems that the past few years I have been away, but never fully. My history is wrapped up in the people and memories I am finding daily. Tonight, it happens to be Mamaw.

The second find worth noting is a newspaper clipping. I found it in Leviticus 21-23 of her King James Giant Print Bible. Mamaw was a life long Church of God member so I can’t imagine how the literal word of God would be interpreted after reading the article below. The letter to the editor appeared in the Columbus Dispatch August 19, 2003, a few months before her death.
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Many Bible Passages Inappropriate Today by Rick Elkhatib

I respond to all who have written in favor of sodomy laws based on Bible passages. After reading these letters, I decided to read the Book of Leviticus, and now I wholeheartedly agree. However, we should take it a few steps further.

First, I propose that Congress make slavery legal. Leviticus 25:44 clearly states that people may buy slaves, and Exodus 21:7 allows selling daughters into slavery. If the same book that says homosexuality is an abomination suggests that slavery is OK, then it must be true. I also propose that all women must wear clearly visible armbands during menstruation. This way, people can avoid contact with them or anything they touch, as in Leviticus 15:19-24.

Because Exodus states that working on the Sabbath is a sin punishable by death, every state should reserve one day each week to follow through with this punishment. On the Sabbath, all hospitals and police stations will be closed.

But what am I doing preaching Christianity? I wear contacts, and my hair is thinning – Leviticus 21:20 clearly states that no one with a defect in sight or any blemish or deformity may approach the altar of God.
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This evening a good friend urged me to read an article by Walter Bouman an emeritus professor of theology at Trinity Lutheran Seminary. He is preparing to die. He is preparing to live. This was appropriately published on what would have been Mamaw’s 94th birthday.