July 3 Sunday-Song of Solomon is the Bible's great response that the world of faith does not cherish romance out of fear or guilt. At ch.4, we are treated to a head to toe praise of the beloved. The effusiveness of the praise makes me think that these are young lovers. Of course, human sexuality creates all sorts of problems, but they are often a better set of problems than empty arms and hearts. The pull toward unison is a powerful one for these isolated bodies we have. The human body is not to be downplayed in the faith but treated with the same respect as the spiritual or emotional. What are your best features? What features do you find most beguiling in others?

July 4-Every year, I try to read at least the beginning and ending of the Declaration of Independence. For devotions, let's focus on some of the religious language of its author and of congress. "Endowed by their Creator' is a powerful statement of rights. Instead of a divine right of kings, Jefferson leans to a political priesthood of all believers where all of us, in the image and likeness of god, have rights, not only as possessions, but capacities in society. The basic rights were inalienable not because they cannot be abridged, but because we cannot give them up. They are part of being human, part of a divine inheritance.

Tuesday Loneliness can attack us in a packed party.It is an urge toward connection that makes loneliness push us to find relationship. So, it is a symptom more than a disease. Einstein said that solitude was prized as he grew older. Solitude is a decision as well as a physical reality. Sometimes, loneliness can be assuaged with prayer. There we are not alone, for God is there, listening as carefully as a therapist, s happy to hear from us as a parent when we call.

Wednesday Wordsworth said  "the wise mind regrets less what age takes away, but more what it leaves behind." In a youth-obsessed culture, we resent and resist the limitations that aging places on us. I suppose it could mean the accumulation of losses of relationships that lie in our past, or it could mean the legacies we leave behind, both positive and negative.

Thursday-When I was considering joining the Presbyterian church, the pastor showed me the confession of 1967. At the end, is says "the church does not identify limited progress with the kingdom of God on earth, nor does it despair in the face of disappointment and defeat." Day by day, bit by bit, the church does it work ot make the world a proper place for human beings to live, to make the world a bit more livable. i so admire the modesty of the confession here, where it does not arrogate itself the power to know god's will precisely. Instead, it keeps its eye on the prize, laboring toward that distant goal.

Friday-Scripts-"All the world's a stage." At times, we act out of lives with a script that has been foisted upon us. Something happens, and the words of someone else seem to jump out of our mouths. It can be a salutary spiritual exercise to write out the means and the ends to which you are drawn. That may well confirm your path, or it could ask for some course alteration. Where in your life do you need a rewrite of the script you have been following. Where does your script get you into trouble, and where does it provide you enjoyment?

Saturday Temperance-We ran out of time to speak much of temperance in our Tuesday morning class that has its current focus, the 7 deadly sins. It is definitely related to phrasing in Scripture on self-control, or perhaps a better translation, self-mastery. That permits us to enjoy in moderation, temperately. When we temper an egg, we moderate the temperature to mix a little hot liquid and then put it in the hot mixture. Just saying no does not always work. learning when to say yes and to say no is the essence of temperance, a more human approach than abstinence, I think.