Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more…

Amos 7: 7-8

Why did I wake up thinking about plumblines? I wonder. In the middle of the election muddle…

This construction worker is using a plumbline. He worked for the government, so we can have his picture for free. The thingy at the end of the line is called a 'plumb bob'.

A plumbline is a tool. It is used to see if things are straight. In the old days they didn't use spirit levels, because history. If a wall or building is straight, it's 'plumb'. If it isn't, it's 'out of plumb'.

'I will not again pass by them any more' seems to indicate that there's a point of no return. If you don't get it right in time, the consequences may be dire.

If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

II Chronicles 7: 13-14

You don't need to believe in 'fairy tales about old men with beards' to understand those quotes. You don't have to believe that once upon a time, a certain group of people were chosen to belong to a supernatural being. It isn't necessary to put yourself in that mental space to get the point that the ethical decisions made by groups affects their polity, their social well-being, and even their environmental health. And that, sooner or later, stubborn refusal to improve can result in fatal error.

It is otiose to shrug and say, 'We know all that.' Looking around me, I reply, 'No. I don't think all of us do.'

If you read that collection of ancient stories, not in order to argue whether or not it is possible to survive inside a fish, but looking for patterns, you see one emerging: treating each other like dirt will doom your society. Now tell me, 'Everybody knows that.' I dare you.

And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

Zechariah 7: 10-11

This is not rocket science. The consistent idea is this: from the point of view of a concerned outside observer, sub specie aeternitatis, what everybody's doing is making the world they live in untenable. Injustice breeds imbalance, cruelty threatens stability. If you were that observer, wouldn't you be shouting, 'Hey, down there!'?

And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side; And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city. And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord God! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem? Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not.

Ezekiel 9: 3-9

Now, according to that vision, what's the criterion for rescue? How much money/power/influence they have? How many social media followers they can count? How patriotic/religious they are? Or whether they care about their neighbours?

Maybe the moral is: if we don't wise up and take care of things ourselves, we should expect nature to take its course? One of these days, this planet may just have had it with all of us.

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Micah 6:8 #homohumilis

Here endeth the lesson.

Dmitri Gheorgheni

23.11.20 Front Page

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