Living
the Words
“I
know the Bible is a special book, but I find it as seductive as any
other. If I am not careful, I can begin to mistake the words on the
page for the realities they describe. I can begin to love the dried
ink marks on the page more than I love the encounters that gave rise
to them.”
Barbara
Brown Taylor (Leaving Church)
Wouldn't
life be easier if we never watched the news? Do you ever get the urge
to completely shut out the world, and just tend your own
garden? I do. I can entertain lofty thoughts and elevated ideas, and
never have to see the real pain and suffering that is happening all around me. I know people who do that. I confess, I
sometimes envy their passivity.
Especially
with our scriptures—we begin to think that all we need to do is
“believe” what they say. That is enough. And, if we take them
literally, we can justify doing almost anything in their name.
We can label people “backsliders,” or “non-believers,” "an abomination," or “infidels,” and write them off in our minds as unworthy of life.
We can put our religious beliefs on a bumper-sticker, and feel
righteous. Yesterday, in addition to multiple Jesus-fish magnets, I
saw a bumper-sticker that read, “Armed Infidel on Board.” Since
when did the peacemaker of Christianity—the one who said, “He who
lives by the sword will die by the sword,” and healed the severed
ear of his enemy, become a cause for bearing arms? I'm confused. Are
we back to the Crusades?
If
we truly love the words from our sacred scriptures, regardless of
which text they come from, we must live by them. It's not enough to
say, “I'm a believer.” We must let the stories guide our actions
in the real world—and none of them include bearing arms.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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