Monday, May 10, 2021

Righteousness and wickedness

When I headed off to grad school in 1991, I fully intended to take up yoga. Still haven't quite gotten there, though there are some nice videos on YouTube. For a similar length of time, I've been meaning to read the Bible. I've had a King James translation since I was a child, I got it at St Phillips in Durham. I got a New Standard Oxford Study edition sometime in college, probably for reference when I took that course on rabbinical literature.

Recently I started reading it in the morning, alongside the Tao Te Ching (much easier going). Because the Bible is so daunting, I figured I'd start the Psalms, which are reputed to be real nice.

Even there, however, the whole thing is weighed down by this Manichean view of righteousness and wickedness, 24/7. I'm like, ease up fellas. Don't be so sure. Then I got to the end of one of them and it had this line: "Let the words of the my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in the sight, Oh Lord." It took me a few minutes to realize where I knew it from.


 

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