How should I read the bible

Wrong shape, wrong, size, wrong “something”

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I can think of a handful of people who changed me.  Outside of immediate family that is.  People I met.  People I hadn’t known before or knew after.  Who came into me life and left leaving me changed.  Family I think of – in this context – as the soil, the air, the sun and rain.  But those who enter and leave again – they are sowers of seed.

Jesus is a sower of seed.  The bible is a seed.  Church and church life, all the fellowship, community, programmes and “service” are the environment.

Those people who changed me didn’t know they had or did.  Sowers of seed don’t start with that expectation.  They live with hope.  Hope that something good might come of what they sow.  Hope that some might allow that seed.  Allow a personal fermentation and sprouting.  Because a seed can live for years in a sterile environment.  An environment that keeps a seed a “seed”.  Never taking root, never dying as a seed to become something greater.

Sowers of seed cannot dictate the environment that seed finds.

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I think that is where we struggle with church life and “religion”.  We confuse seeds with environment.  We think we can grow crops, we think we can modify seeds to produce greater fruit, we think we can count the seeds we offered as plants that we grew.  But no one has ever “grown” a seed in me.  I do that.  I am the environment in which a seed lands.  I am a sterile environment or not.  And sometimes seeds can rest within me for years untouched and unnoticed.  Until I am the right place and time for that one small and tiny seed.

For me the bible is a seed.  And when I try and live in that “seed” I confine both myself and the seed.  When I live for the bible and of the bible I don’t become the great big tree in which others live – I become tiny like the seed itself.  Scared of change.  Scared of becoming something bigger than I think I could or should.  Scared of being something that looks different, that smells different, that thinks differently – that is different from the seed.  That must be different if the seed is to be anything other than a “seed”.

I see that same confusion with the coronavirus.  We are scared of change.  Scared of the unknown.  Even when the unknown is not that different to the known: that those who live with less health and greater age live a more precarious life (despite medical science and miracles).  But our usual repressed fear sprouts in such times.  We are scared we might be without.  Scared we might not have all the comforts we regard as essentials.  We remain seeds scared of what might “get us” – scared of all that is outside our comfort zones.  So we withdraw (prep and panic buy) and isolate ourselves (literally in some cases).  We pull-in and focus on “me me me” even more than usual.

That has comparisons with the church life and religion I have known all my life.  Because against all the taught “advice” of a lifetime … the more I don’t read the bible – the more I know the bible.  Just as the more I don’t read all the panic news about coronavirus – the more I know the virus (and I am one with “underlying issues” and “age category” against me).

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Just as against all the taught advice of a cultural-Christian lifetime, the more I don’t go to church the freer I am.

Free of the constrictions of guilt.  The guilt of am I doing enough – am I a good Christian … ?  Free of the constriction of faith – a constriction of believing the same as others  … do I fit-in (so that I can make a difference) … ?  Free of the need for compromise between family-who-won’t/don’t and church-life-that-does/must … How much do I give and to whom and how and when … ?  Free of a diary always being double-booked and massaged …  Free to allow “seeds” to grow as big (and as weirdly) as they allow.

As I allow.

I read that @ 30% of farm produce never makes it off the farm and into our shops.  Wrong shape, wrong, size, wrong “something” … all because it won’t look the same as “proper shaped and correct size” stuff (we do see on the shelves). 

I find that horrifying. 

That we talk about saving the planet and climate change and plastic … yet 30% of the very fuel of life we keep out of sight and discard.   And yet that 30% comes from the same seeds as the “proper and correct” ones.

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The seeds I have allowed make me who I am.

I have no idea if I am of the 30% (wrong) of 70% (correct and proper).  But why is that even relevant?  I am who I am.  And more and more I find the moment to be seeded with all I need. 

For that is where Love lives and growth happens.

If I allow.

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Religion like in the good old days

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HEADLINE: “In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace”

OPENING CONTENT: “The religious landscape of the United States continues to change at a rapid clip. In Pew Research Center telephone surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019, 65% of American adults describe themselves as Christians when asked about their religion, down 12 percentage points over the past decade.”

Who thinks Christians are a Resource …?

The samples from these political polls are not as large as the Landscape Studies (even when all of the political polls conducted in a year are combined), but together, 88 surveys from 2009 to 2019 included interviews with 168,890 Americans.

So let’s slice and dice …

Religious “nones” are growing faster among Democrats than Republicans, though their ranks are swelling in both partisan coalitions … Furthermore, the data shows a wide gap between older Americans (Baby Boomers and members of the Silent Generation) and Millennials in their levels of religious affiliation and attendance …  The data suggests that Christians are declining not just as a share of the U.S. adult population, but also in absolute numbers …  Catholics no longer constitute a majority of the U.S. Hispanic population …  There is still a gender gap in American religion …  Religious “nones” now make up fully one-third of Democrats …  The religious profile of white Democrats is very different from the religious profile of racial and ethnic minorities within the Democratic Party …  The share of U.S. adults who are white born-again or evangelical Protestants now stands at 16%, down from 19% a decade ago … 

 

In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace

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Is this what it’s all about?
The labels and percentages.  The numbers and the affiliations.
Keeps them from seeing Love.
Keeps you from being Love

You think you are persecuted?
You are a Resource.

 

 

Just like the good old days.

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eyes on God

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There are times I am caught and held in the moment of a word, a scent, a sound …

This post caught me – moved me one way with sadness and then another with joy. Even today it seems we have to break free of reading the bible right. Maybe especially today.

And it is moments like this post which remind me we keep on doing it to each other! And I have no idea why.

Thank you Rebekah!

Paul
((hugs))

I am wealthy

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It must be nice to have the luxury to debate these issues

“the Biblical vision of gender”

My Beautiful One

Rebekah wrote a post that connected with immediacy and clarity.

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We are rich in time and, boy oh boy, how we like to waste this wealth!  We are rich enough in time to sit and verbally spar with each other.  We are rich enough in time to dump static opinion and beliefs over each other.  We are rich enough in time enough to examine spiritual “belly-button-fluff” over which we obsess.

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Riches are referred to in the bible over which we obsess.

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And I have found that wealth is taken literally.  Riches are “stuff” of money and purchase.  A big car.  A fine house.  The best jewels.  The finest wine.  All “stuff” we can hold and touch and count and store.

Yet I am rich in so many ways that is nothing to do with I can hold and touch.

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A family living in a place of safety.  A family living in good health.  A family living with excellent and free healthcare 24/7.  A family who takes for granted three meals a day.  The freedom to write words like this and press send to the whole world.  The freedom to be bored, to be restless, to be distracted, to be yearning and spontaneous.  The freedom to live as I wish constrained only by my fears and timidity.

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It must be nice to have the luxury to debate these issues.

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The bible for me becomes ever more simple, ever more connected, ever more immediate.  Call it what you will, debate it as you will … dismiss it as you will … for me there is one great truth that is rejected ONLY if I fear this truth:

‘Love them, me AND you.  Unconditionally.”

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What is to fear?

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Well I used to fear love.

I used to fear not controlling, not measuring, not counting, not receiving, not being in charge.  I used to fear losing all those “riches” I thought of as “love”.  I relied on rules and law and commandments.

Because if I was going to treat you okay I wanted an enforceable contract that said you were going to be grateful and that you were going to treat me okay.  But I wanted a contract with get-out clauses.

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Like … familiarity breeds contempt.  Like … the grass is always greener on the other side.  Like … what I found attractive in you now repels me.  Like … I reserve the right to count whether or not you give me more than I give you.  And the biggie …

It’s only wrong if you catch me in the act

(and even then it’s your fault I felt the need to do it)

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And all of “that” is NOT fear … ?

All of that we think IS “love” … ?

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It must be nice to have the luxury to debate these issues.

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‘Love them, me AND you.  Unconditionally.”

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Riches are riches.

I am wealthy.

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What am I doing with this truth?

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When that kicks in – loves checks out

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I think loving me the hardest of all.  I don’t mean the “I can’t be bothered.” … the “I could never do that.” … the “Let someone else do it.”   Nor do I mean the “I am better than anyone else.”… the “I have rights.” … the “What about me.”

I mean loving me as I would love my own child … my own partner … that stranger in need … that best friend I have known for ever … that special someone I would walk over hot coals for …

That kind of “loving me”.

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The greatest of these.

God?  Well loving God comes in all shapes and sizes.  Initially like a stranger who must be obeyed.  Then, perhaps, as a wonderful deity who can only be worshipped and praised.  Then, maybe, the most important relationship in my life.  Then, possibly, a friend – a best friend.  No longer the detached “up there” gaseous ether.  Now someone I trust.  Not to “fix things” all the time.  That is my role – just like no friend expects me to “fix things” in every part of their life.  That would be just plain weird!  Just someone who will always think the best of me.  Never give up on me.  Always have an ear for me.

I heard someone who does daily marathons for a living say that we rarely – if ever – really know what we are each capable of.  I think that lack of knowing underpins this “The Greatest of these” …

Others?  Well loving others is pretty easy too.  An odd donation … I am praying for you … My thoughts are with you … perhaps even a volunteering of my time – my skills – my resources – my heartbeats – perhaps even my whole diary!  Which is like giving my life for you (the “others” we must love).  Except that is a weird kind of love.  It’s an obligation kind of love.  A duty kind of love.  A service kind of love.  A bit like a God kind of love.  I should (if I am a good Christian).

I heard someone say that “We are a broad church”.  That the buildings aren’t “it” that “we are” it.  But I still don’t really know what “it” is.   Or why I am expected to go to “it”.   I think “it” gets in the way of “The Greatest of these” …

And then me.

What I have found over the years is that when I consciously register that I am “doing” love (in whatever moment of my life and with whoever that moment is with) … It is no longer love.  It is me “giving”.

And I have learned that when I think “giving” I think “getting” (in some weird default can’t control it kind of way).  I have found that when this “The Greatest of these” is a “commandment” … giving AND getting become involved.

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And when that kicks in – loves checks out.

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And as I absorb the essence of (what I think) is the point of the bible … I find that “commandment stuff” less and less relevant.  Along with all this “transaction” faith we have created … The need to sign-up for the creeds stuff.  The “I believe” stuff.  The hierarchy stuff.  The “institution” stuff.  The “religion” stuff which includes creation and sin and a lot of deaths and more sin and atonement through more killing innocent creatures bred for the purpose of “their blood shed for me”.

And then the great “reset”. 

The cross and resurrection – and a conundrum.  The “blood shed for me” being the biggie – with the “resurrection” being the proof it’s all good.  Because if the blood is “it” then why the need for the resurrection?  And if the resurrection is “it” why the need for the killing and blood?  there is loads of healing and bringing others back to life – loads of “your sins ore forgiven”  – all without a cross in sight …

And why the “facts and evidence” we have now made all of this.  The “But God Says” (in the bible).  And the bible is The Word of God (but the Koran isn’t).  Nor is (just) the Old Testament.  Nor is  the continuous political meddling relevant – other than it proves the bible IS God inspired (really???).

Why that “need” for the bible to be “it” – unless it is so the church can be “it” – which means I get to be “it” by being saved and believing in all of “it”?

The Greatest of these.

Two words have become more and more powerful in my journey with The Greatest of these …

“I Am”.

I

and

Am

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The Greatest of these is I and Am.

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(what else can top that?)

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What does “We need builder-uppers” really mean?

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“I have come to realise that many Christians question much that is taught (and written) in and of the bible but … privately. “ 

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“Needing to know the bible”

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“My bible teaching started young with The Nice Bits.   Even “The Most Important Bit” is  airbrushed beyond recognition.   Being “washed in blood” has only ever been (and remains) a gratuitous-gore-fest-of-senseless-killing … unless it is The Story of The Cross.”

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“Bigging-up the bible” has to be done in the right way, or else it is “knocking the bible”.   And then we open up that “we have enough criticisers” – we need “builder-uppers”.   And – of course – the qualified-in-God “facts” of what God and Jesus actually meant by sin and saved – all the “correct” (builder-upper) bible stuff.

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“Being scripturally correct … The devil does it … atheists do it … Christians do it … we ALL do it … We ALL screw with the bible.  And yet the bible remains The Way.”

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Want to read the rest?.

“Needing to know the bible”  – justmebeingcurious

.Might not be what you expect.

Thank you –

Paul

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Unconditional Love – (IV)

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Some years ago we took a trip down the Nile. Our trip excluded the pyramids and began with temples. And more temples. And yet more temples. There are a lot of temples in Egypt. It was an industry. And then the connecting lines – either physical or lines to be drawn on a map. The engineering, design, accuracy, ingenuity are all “immense”! Photographs do not do the reality any justice at all. I began a sceptic and ended a convert. All in one short week.

So here we are. Writing the bible. Charting the rise and fall and rise (and fall and rise and …) of the Chosen People. Just where do you begin? How do you get the Chosen People to “get it”? Just how do you create an identity the Chosen People can not only believe in – but live and breathe and “be”?

I look around today at the self-doubt in, and of, “church”. How our western “Christian countries” see themselves under attack from both the secular world and different faiths. And drugs – pornography – money – celeb culture – globalisation – complacency – even “slumbering our way to hell”. And I see writing to challenge that, to motivate, to reinforce the identify of today’s Chosen People – us believers, us followers, us disciples, us individual temples with God within each.

“What stopped the rampaging Roman army? Which structure was built of stones weighing up to 400 tons and capable of accommodating up to one million people? The answer to these questions is the Temple of Jerusalem.”

The biggest and baddest bad boy Chosen-People-Temple of all! Have a read of “The Jewish Temples: The Second Temple, by Shelley Cohney” which presents the Temple in my kind of language i.e. ex-biblical measurements (which always send me to sleep).

And now have a look at this: “ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TEMPLES, Jeffrey Hays”  The biggest and baddest bad boy God-on-Earth temples a little further south. A lot of the brickwork still survives. And to walk amongst the ruins is still awe-inspiring!

But as I was pondering these things – God Soft Hands Jesus piped up: “Outer-inner- sanctuary.” And that pinged a bell. The Nile trip and our “temple time” each day … Each temple had an outer, an inner, and a sanctuary – just like “The Temple” in the bible. Except the second Temple in the bible was the biggest baddest bad boy Temple of all temples! Doesn’t the Biggest God need the biggest house? And don’t the concept drawings look very similar to other god houses?

Was the Temple for God – or was the Temple for the Chosen People? A sign that their God was the alpha God. A God under whom they would rule the world – nay the universe – nay beyond even that (if they just got the hang of following Him without all the dissent and whining and straying off on their own).

What unifies us today – gives us our identify as Christians? We have an indwelling God within. We are His temples – each of us. We have the biggest baddest bad boy temple of all – look at how many millions of walking talking living temples He has today! And we still have our outer, inner and sanctuary. Our outer persona, our corporate worship inner selves, and our sanctuary – our “prayer closet” – our personal soul.

The god house concept hasn’t changed much over time. So how else might the bible forge an identity under which all could – and would – gather?

A Chosen Land for the Chosen People might be a good place to begin. A place designated as holy and pure. A place wherein the fragrance of God would perfume even the air above and the earth below. A small universe where God and His Chosen People could be as one of one in One. And how might that be written so that the Chosen People would not stray (or if they did could be enticed back into line)?

By speaking in their language. By writing in their language. By having their words of their today create the past of their yesteryear. And is so doing to influence their present. Isn’t that cheating? Isn’t that rewriting history? Isn’t that heresy, Paul?

Well – this writing is doing the same thing. This writing is just as we write today. Looking back and drawing threads together. Perhaps entwining threads that were not real “threads of history”. Adding a little colour here and there. Skipping the chronology to compare like and unlike – and is so doing to see “likenesses”, e.g. to see god concept houses.

So why do we read the bible differently today? Why do we read the bible as a factual history. Why do we teach the bible as a literal history (apart from the bits which don’t fit – like loads of bits). Why do we perpetuate this icon of the bible at all levels? Why do we treat the bible as another Temple: the biggest baddest bad boy religious history of all! Read it and weep you unbelievers! We have the biggest baddest bad boy God of all – we have The Top God – just open your bible and see for yourself (sorry – but not that bit … and not that bit either … nor that bit .. and let’s just skip those pages completely … ).

And – in the same vein as throughout these words – don’t we assign the same outer, inner, and sanctuary “concept bible“ to prove it! We read without knowledge, we see without understanding. We discern together, we see darkly. God speaks to us through The Word, we commune with Him in our own private place.

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Quick comfort break and then back to your bibles, please …