The Knees We Keep

“We bow to no God, and we wait on none. ” That is a hard sentence, Friend. It does not say there is nothing beyond our knowing. It says we will not pretend to know.

Some will object that without a higher command, goodness is only preference. Why should one person’s judgment bind another? That is not a foolish objection. People have called cruelty good with great confidence.

But the chapter does not ask us to invent goodness. Good is good because it is good. Before doctrine, something in us leans to catch the falling. That lean is the law.

This week, Sandra Okafor and Pablo Delgado discussed a crew needing authority to move away from danger without waiting for acknowledgment. The question is not whether every judgment is right. It is whether uncertainty should leave people exposed while someone else decides.

“We keep our heads level and our eyes open.” That means no throne can settle the matter for us. We have to look, listen, and answer for what we choose. I cannot promise that two people will see the same danger, or agree on what to do. Nor can I tell you that doubt makes every action safe.

Sometimes waiting harms; sometimes acting does. The chapter gives us no easy ruling for that moment. It does tell us what our knees are for: catching the falling, not for the floor.

And it leaves our eyes open, even when we wish someone could close the question for us.