Thursday, March 17, 2005

Closed Doors & Septic Sores


This is a sign of some times, maybe our times, that appears on many places where there is no soil in which to place a post, just flesh. A sign appearing on many lives and hearts, a sign justifying and isolating. When I come to the foreground of my life's relationships and turn around to take a brief look at myself I see that this sign stands at the door to where I really live. This is the sign most people see when they try to get a little closer. Depending on who we are this sign will be placed closer or further away from the edges of our property to warn away potential visitors from entering an area where they may meet hostility or maybe just a closed, unmarked door. It will also depend on who the visitor is. With a post in the earth this would be difficult, but flesh moves so readily at times that there is little effort at all. It is also interesting to note that the harder the flesh becomes the harder it is to move the sign back and forth and this will keep it posted at the outer limits of the heart in a more permanent fashion.


All of these signs are placed by the owners, or at least by the tenants. Tenants have temporary rights to the land on which they dwell and must secede to the legal rights of the owner when said owner presses said rights. This is indeed the case with our hearts; we are tenants with temporary and transitory rights to our hearts. The owner will one day demand an accounting of the use of this heart He made for us.
This fact of other ownership also brings up some interesting side issues. This owner has also set the boundaries and laws governing the land on which we reside. While He has given a great and varying leeway to the tenants and this leeway is by definition given in the presence of the governing laws. One of these governing laws is the one which describes the boundaries of each person's property. At this point I call to mind a picture of landowners and developers who have surface water running through their land and across its fixed boundaries. Many a western movie and at least one episode of Bonanza had this as the central theme of its story; what the guy upstream is doing is hurting those downstream. Of course in the movies this guy is always an abrasive cuss who must needs be shot to correct his errant ways, but not so in real life.
In the real world we are all tenants who are responsible not only for the land on which we live, but also that of our neighbours. The things which we do on our 'private property' do have ramifications for those around us. It doesn't matter if it is burning leaves in the backyard or some of the darker things we do in the basement, none of this is retained on our land exclusively. The Owner has crafted the land under these immutable laws. Whatever effluent is found in our hearts will run under the fence and onto the next guy's property. How many lies have I believed about the darkness of my heart which were crafted specifically to protect the downstream flow of shit? This makes the ecology of our heart a most dire circumstance demanding our full attention. The cleanliness of this place is of great import to the Owner as it is with any landlord, the only difference being that this Landlord will aid in any way possible if He is inquired of. Wow, He is really quite amazing, isn't He?! Of course when He comes to help out on the land He will put up His own sign on the edge of the property which will determine the rights and actions of others while they are there. With it being His sign it also means He will make the rules, but it is the only way to clean the place up without dumping it all over the fence, or under it. His sign is the only way.

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