Questions for Me and for Us All

It is truly spring outside today. The birds are singing, the crocus and tulips have been up for better than two weeks, and the colors are dazzling. Why, then, am I having such inner struggles? I started volunteering at a local hospital last week, and although newly joined, was nominated the Auxillary Club's new secretary for the next two years. I was the only person that seemed to have the interest and the energy of spirit for the job. It seems that only older women (and one man) feel the need to volunteer their time toward service to others. They sat around and talked about how they need new blood, new younger faces with eagerness and enthusiasm, to carry their work on into the future. They also reflected on how tragic it is that new parents do not model this kind of service to their children, so they can see the importance of helping our fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord. Truly giving of oneself should not be rare, but rather abundant. How do we encourage our neighbors, family, and friends if we do not give freely of ourselves in example? We can sit around and talk all day about what we need to do, but it is rare that anyone gets up and does something about it.

I have also been struggling with the Bible, listening to scripture, and going to church. I really love being a part of my community, and having fellowship with others. I try to read the Bible, but I have to admit that it is often dry and archaic. I have a new Bible called The Message that reads more like a contemporary work, but even then it still seems so far removed from me. I will admit that I have trouble swallowing the fact that this written work is the word of God. I know...I shouldn't say that, but it is in my heart and I cannot deny it or I would be lying. I have come to understand that it is because of Man that I feel this way. We are a meddlesome species, Man. We love to take something pure and mix in our own thoughts and feelings, which is what I believe has happened to our Bible. It has become a mixture of what 'some' Men have thought should be important to us all, which means to me that many things have been cut out or left out, depending on the viewpoint of the person doing the censoring. I feel cheated and I actually believe in my heart that God feels cheated as well. Beyond that, I also wonder how something so 'holy' (defined as 'other') can be distilled into something as insignificant as words. God is huge, all-encompassing, awesome, and other-worldly, so how can we think that the 'otherness' of God can be captured by mere words? Now, I don't feel this way about everything in the Bible. I think that the stories of Jesus and his disciples are very good. I love that his humanity was captured by storytelling, which is an art as old as our languages. It is in his humanity that we are able to relate to him and to God through him. I love this. I keep trying to remind myself that I should view the Bible as a love story...the best love story ever told. But, still, I have trouble with large parts of it...I know, others will say this is Satan, whispering in my ear and casting doubt. I have no doubts about God, or about Jesus (that is a whole other blog), so I have no real worries about that. It is Man that I have doubt about...

So, I am asking for comments on this blog. Comments about everyone's feelings on the Bible and what it means to you personally. Please do not quote scripture to me. This is part of my problem. People stop speaking to one another's hearts and trying to relate in a human way, and instead try to use quotes from the Bible to say what they have to say. I know there is good reason for it, but I am asking that everyone please refrain from doing this to me...I am asking for your feelings, that come from your heart, and not for quotes...so, please pray on it, and tell me how you feel about what God asked Man to do (put things down for inclusion in a book that became the Bible) and how Man has handled it to date. Do you feel comfortable with what we have done? I mean, is there ever any doubt that Man has at some point in time tried to use interpretation and paraphrasing to dilute or corrupt the word of God? How do we handle this? Faith....I know, we must have faith. I do have faith in our Lord, but as I said before, it is Man that I am questioning here...so, pray for me, and Praise the Lord in all His glory!!