it's time to kill the birds

After I read the book The Red Tent, there was a period when I wanted a part of the old law to come back. I like the idea of being able to take "that time of month" off- to sit in a special tent with the other women and relax, rather than sucking it up and going on with life.

Sometimes in my mind I still live under the deuteronomic principals of life: "do well and blessings will come, stray and you will be cursed". No matter how much I try to sear the truth of grace and mercy in my heart, the law comes back.

But recently I have been really glad that we are not still living under the old law. This past week I would have been pronounced ceremonially unclean, for sure. Somehow, while mowing the lawn, I got a horrible rash- either from the grass or from poison ivy, covering most of my upper right arm. It started Saturday, and by Monday I just wanted to either cut off the arm, or drug myself up enough to sleep and not think about it.

I definitely would have been living outside the camp.

However, yesterday, in keeping with the law, would have been the seventh day, when the priest would have come back to re-examine me. I would proudly say....I am healed. I'm pretty sure that Aaron wasn't giving out steroids back then, but thank goodness Dr. Real is.

So now, you can bring forth the pigeon, kill it, sprinkle my house with it's blood and set it's pair free into the field. I will follow custom and shave my head, take a bath, come back inside the gate, but sleep outside the tent until next week. Next week I will bring a couple of lambs with some flour and oil, and we will slaughter the lamb, and put a little blood on my ear and foot, and then....finally...

I would sleep in my own bed again. Clean.

Tonight, however, instead of sleeping outside, looking for my lamb, I'm inside a cool house, being licked by a dog. Truly we have been set free from the law.