[Quix]

And, I think you have given me another insight today . . .

From my vantage point,

It tends to chronically appear that humans have an inherent compulsion to make talismen out of all manner of objects, rituals, symbols etc. How to talk about this may be tricky, but as usual, I'm brazen enough to try. I think this is true of all humans, all Christians. Nevertheless, the Vatican AIWSOTARM system has evolved such compulsions to a hideous black art form.

A slight caveat. I'm not trying to say that God's power is never invested, anointed over, saturating objects. The bones of the prophet could be a case in point to the contrary. Paul's handkerchief/cloths, another.

Nevertheless, God saw to it that even the Ark of the Covenant, for the present, is unavailable. That supreme object-location of YAWEH'S DIVINE MANIFEST PRESENCE is not currently available.

And, RC VAIWSOTARM sensibilities aside, Mary is a poor ark.

And, it's been said that if all the splinters of The Cross were collected, there'd be enough wood to build a new Noah's Ark.

We are a mortal people grounded in tangible reality focused on OBJECTS all our waking hours and resting on objects when we are asleep. We are inescapably OBJECT ORIENTED.

Initially, God wanted a more or less face to face sort of dialogue with each Israeli at the TENT OF MEETING. They would have none of it and demanded that Moses do the professional RELIGIOUS duties for them. Chickens. Wimps. Humans.

I think that's why Moses' body was taken by God. He wanted no one bowing down to Moses corpse. Or worse, their tearing it apart for bits of Moses' bones--talismen to be carried around their necks on gold chains.

We love talismen because WE CONTROL THEM--we carry them, fondle them, caress them, kiss them, loft them, adore them, venerate them, worship them [DUMB! DOH!], MANIPULATE THEM--pretend we manipulate God with them.

YAWEH was not in the thunder . . . nor in the lightening . . . nor in the wind . . . but in HIS STILL SMALL VOICE.

He IS a jealous God. It is OFFENSIVE TO HIM for us to focus on ANY SUBSTITUTE.

HE WANTS DIALOGUE, A DANCE, PERSONAL INTIMACY INDIVIDUAL TO HIM. HE WANTS IT AT THE COST OF HIS OWN ONLY SON. WHAT BIGGER STATEMENT CAN HE MAKE ABOUT THAT???

Yet in our arrogant insecure prissyness, humans are so compulsively prone to acquiring, taking on, making talismen as substitutes. We feel comforted that we can HANDLE, DO, MANIPULATE some purported 'God thing' and pretend that we can even manipulate God with the THING.

God is merciful and when hearts are right, and earnestly toward and for Him, He MAY ignore some minor degrees of such around the edges.

ON THE WHOLE, IT'S AN OFFENSIVE STENCH.

And to end up doing it with the elements of communion has to be a serious travesty of major proportions.

HE WANTS ONGOING DAILY DIALOGUE INDIVIDUAL PERSON TO HIM. NOTHING between. Certainly no tangible OBJECTS between.

HEART TO HEART IS HIS PREFERENCE AND HIS REQUIREMENT.

Humans are foolish to pretend anything else is good, much less wonderful.

All this business about "aids to worship" is likewise nonsense. The Pagans say the same thing. God will have none of it. Weasel worded rationalizations have never impressed God.

And, Proddys can be ALMOST as awash in such stuff as RC's with particular denomninational symbols, forms, rituals, customs and the like. Thankfully, most of us don't fixate on crackers and juice as our bits of Christ to play mental games with.

May God show each individual with a heart truly after HIM--what HIS priorities are for in each of our lives and particularly for our DANCE WITH HIM.

[Alamo-Girl]

Truly, dear brother in Christ, man has ever comforted himself with objects - to his spiritual peril.

Aaron, for instance, believed he could feast to the Lord at an altar in front of the molten calf:

And all the people brake off the golden earrings which [were] in their ears, and brought [them] unto Aaron. And he received [them] at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These [be] thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

And when Aaron saw [it], he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow [is] a feast to the LORD. - Exodus 32:3-5

He was wrong.

God's Name is I AM.

[metmom]

Romans 1:24-25 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

This then is the danger, worshiping the creation rather than the creator.

We end up looking to it and not Him. God then becomes a good luck charm or fetish to ward off evil, instead of of all who God is.

[Lera]

Speaking of talismans
Some even trust them for their salvation
*shudders*

The brown scapular-http://www.catholic-church.org/apcarmel/scapular.htm
Our Lady gave St. Simon a scapular for the Carmelites with the following promise, saying : Receive, My beloved son, this habit of thy order: this shall be to thee and to all Carmelites a privilege, that whosoever dies clothed in this shall never suffer eternal fire .... It shall be a sign of salvation, a protection in danger, and a pledge of peace.
Another important aspect of wearing the Scapular is the Sabbatine Privilege. This concerns a promise made by Our Lady to Pope John XXII. In a papal letter he issued, he recounted a vision that he had had. He stated that the Blessed Virgin had said to him in this vision, concerning those who wear the Brown Scapular: “I, the Mother of Grace, shall descend on the Saturday after their death and whomsoever I shall find in Purgatory, I shall free, so that I may lead them to the holy mountain of life everlasting.”

SO NOT BIBLICAL !