Day 37

A story has more than one way of telling it. That’s just the nature of a good story. That’s also just the nature of good storytellers. You got to keep on telling it, exploring all the different nuances and subtleties until you stumble upon your own unique interpretation. Take the Big Story of the life, death and (re)life of Jesus.

One life.

One death.

One empty tomb.

Four great storytellers.

Four great stories that shaped the history of the world forever. Each with their own unique understanding and interpretation to the significance and meaning of the extraordinary life and teachings of a good friend called Jesus.

Mark was the first, short, bold and straight to the point. It’s Kingdom Come, no time to waste.

Matthew the Jew, dug deep into the treasures of his Ancient past. While taking the scenic route of mysteries and wonders, prophets and poets, he discovered spiritual connections between Jesus and History that blew him away.

Luke, the dream doctor wrote the story to his friend. Together they hoped for a new world that’s Good News to the poor and the vulnerable. In the Way Jesus lived and died and lived again, Luke saw a glimpse of what this new Way should look like.

Somewhere between the three of them there was an (in)visible voice, a 5th narrator, let’s call her “Q”. An anonymous writer with a profound imagination that influenced these great story gurus to keep on writing until all is said and done.

And then there was John, living on his own little planet. Dreaming up metaphors, making profound links, being deeply spiritual, head in the clouds, feet on the earth. A philosopher, theologian and poet who believed in the power of a love called Agape. In the story of Jesus, John saw this Love shaping into flesh and bone, shining like a shimmering light and flowing like a river in flood.

These stories are not the only stories.

There’s the one my grandma used to tell. One of pancakes, ponies and a good man called Jesus who loves children to bits.

There’s the one my friend in Cape Town tells. A Jesus story of a new life growing out from underneath the rubble of a failed marriage and a spirit struggling with depression.

There’s the one the people of my country always tell. One of a grey old world that faded into the shimmering colours of a New Rainbow called Hope and Change.

Although these stories missed the cut off date to be written into the stories of the Bible, it’s still the same Storyteller Spirit who never stopped writing...

Day 36

I had a professor who used to say: "We don’t read the Bible, the Bible reads us."

I always wondered what the heck that means.

Let me attempt an explanation:

I think what my old proffie meant was that the stories of the Bible play out in the lives of ordinary people all over the world.

The Spirit inspired truths that carry with them the potential to shape lives, change paths and cultivate good moral characters, need to be lived.

For most of us, that’s like third base.

Modern Religion got stuck at first.

The church I grew up in taught me that a clever Christian is a good Christian. The end in mind of the faith journey is to know everything there is to know about Christianity. The goal is knowledge that we can test, measure and evaluate.

Obviously, it is good to know what the Bible says and to have that knowledge we need to read it again and again and again, because humans tend to forget.

But the “knowledge” found in the Ancient Hebrew Faith that inspired and shaped the theology of Jesus, is way different from our modern understanding of “knowing stuff”.

The Hebrew word for knowledge is called “Yada”. Sometimes they used it to describe the knowledge about some or other subject. Other times they used it to when people really got to know each other, like friends. Most of the times “yada” was used to describe the intimate relationship between God and humans. But then there’s also the odd now and then when they used it to describe sex between two lovers.

Huh?

Sex?

Bet I got your attention now...

Relax.

For the Old Believers to have knowledge of something were always a spiritual and intimate affair. It concerned your brain and your heart, your spirit, body and your soul.

To know the Bible in a modernistic sense will only score big in the eyes of the Sunday school teacher, but to let the stories, told by the ancient prophets, poets, dreamers and writers shape your soul, lift your heart and move your feet in the direction of The Big Story Guru, until your whole life is so enmeshed in his massive story that it becomes difficult to see where the stories of the Bible end and where your story starts, that’s the kind of knowledge “Yada” is all about.

Happy reading.

Day 34

Last night I asked the question whether we are missing the point when it comes to the role the Bible plays in the lives of (doubtful) believers. Let’s try to unpack this question.

Are we missing the point?

Yes...

Yes we are missing the point when the Bible is seen as the one and only truth about God. That only those who read and believe it can know God. It is as if the Bible becomes God and God becomes the Bible.

Yes we are missing the point when we read it as if the context and paradigm gaps between us and the text don’t apply.

Yes we are missing the point when the Bible is used as a sword in human hands to divide, hurt, offend and separate.

Yes we are missing the point when words written to groups of people for the benefit and growth of a whole community, is turned into a book called: “My Bible” where I, the individual, or we a specific group of people can claim exclusive rights to the Truth(s) we get out of it.

Yes we are missing the point when reading the Bible becomes the goal of our faith journey. When we think that this is the only thing God asks of us: To read a very old book.

Yes we are missing the point when we constantly feel guilty about not reading it.

And of course no...

No we are not missing the point when the Bible is part of an integrated spiritual journey defined by an honest longing to know God. On this journey the Bible is a conversation friend, a space where old stories come to life in the lives of those who are reading it. Together with other voices the Bible can help shape our own story towards the Big Story we call God.

How this “shaping of stories” takes place, I am going to need a few more posts to figure out. Stay tuned...