{ODD} Rules

 

The law of the Lord is perfect, 
    refreshing the soul. 
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, 
    making wise the simple. 
 The precepts of the Lord are right, 
    giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
    giving light to the eyes. 
 The fear of the Lord is pure,
    enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
    and all of them are righteous.

I have blogged before about rules from my childhood. I was reminded of one random rule that cropped up when I was a teenager.

We got a video machine, a video recorder to be precise, we weren’t the first so it wasn’t ‘Betamax’. It sat under the “Bang and Olufsen” television looking pretty. For weeks only my stepfather was allowed to use it, because he was a man and knew these things. This from the same person who refused to allow “PONG” into the house in case it damaged his television. Technically unsavvy but with a huge dose of ego. Know anyone like that?

During the summer my stepfather would watch cricket on his television, from eleven in the morning till the close of play, intermingled with tennis, golf and ‘Match of the Day’. The curtains would be closed and summer – rain, sun or cloud would just pass him by. In fairness to the man, he was a cricketer. Played badminton and I think soccer before he injured his back, or got complacently married to my mother, or couldn’t be bothered listening to the nagging anymore and gave it all up. He gave up going to live matches, because of her.

In the midst of all this sport watching, he took out an account at the local video shop and one day I used it. I took out “The Jazz Singer” with Neil Diamond and waited for my moment to use the new video machine.

One day Jack had a meeting with some investigative crowd, he was all spruced up in his grey suit, pink shirt, shiny shoes and opulent amounts of cologne. I waited till he was gone and snook downstairs, set up the machine, half closed the curtains. Couldn’t shut them fully because the sunshine was dancing through the nets and it looked so fairydancey on the wall.

I settled down to watch the weepiest, most sentimental movie ever made. At the height of the weeping my mother came in like a tournado, turned off everything, opened the curtains and the window and demanded an account of my day.

It was wrong to close the curtains, it was wrong to watch a video, it was wrong not to make dinner. How was it wrong for me, I have no idea. In this pre-Christian part of my life, when my brain was assaulted by accusations and lies, I have to hold my hand up and admit, I didn’t react in the greatest manner.

The Bang and Olufsen television developed a problem (I took off the back and cut through some of the circuitry) and the video machine, I fed it cubes of soggy bread slowly over a period of a month and it stopped working while I was away on holiday. Hey ho, vengeful teenager, ahoy.

My dear mother tells anyone that she doesn’t watch television, but she knows not only who Jeremy Kyle is but knows the types of people on his show. Go figure.

Parents make rules, children abide by them unless they are testing the boundaries.

BUT

The rules shouldn’t change on a whim.

God’s rules are unchangeable, He is unfailing in His love for us, His mercy and grace reaches even someone like me. He is the great Creator who wants to be in relationship with me and you.