Ask the Questions
A Message from Mary
It has been a wonderful thing, our Epiphany practice of taking a deep dive into the Gospel reading at our Adult Forum time on Sunday mornings from nine to ten a.m. True, it is sometimes frustrating when we see gaps in the story line, when there are questions that are not easily asked, when we can see competing explanations for what happens in this complex and beautiful story of Jesus Christ.
And yet, there are moments when we can see ourselves in the story, when the message resonates in primal ways. That is one of the reasons we actually continue to study the Bible – it can be the work of a lifetime – and we wrestle with it.
Our group was discussing the possible ways of interpreting a particular passage, and one person who was rightfully a little frustrated said “well, if it’s so unclear and if we cannot come to a conclusion about it, what’s the point? Why do we do this?”
It was a fair question. I stopped and breathed a minute, and shared this observation: “We keep on studying it because, despite all the contradictions and questions and arguments, there is something there that is irresistible to our hearts. We cannot NOT try to sort it out.”
I truly believe this. We find things that intrigue us, that cause us to reflect on our own lives and on how it draws on our relationship with the Divine. Every time we read it, we hear something we haven’t noticed before. Every time we are struggling, we find something that provides both comfort and challenge. The Bible is a living document (and a complex one) that speaks to us in different genres, that retells stories in different voices, that seems too ancient for us to relate to, until suddenly we’re reading something that seems “ripped out of today’s headlines.”
In a way, it parallels what we’re doing now on Sunday mornings with the Children’s Message. We are inviting children into conversation with this ancient story, in ways that work for them.
It is always my hope that the things we do in our faith lives reinforce the fact that we are beloved children of God, and that we can ALWAYS ask questions about Scripture, and that we might be surprised by what we discover about the Bible and about ourselves when we study together. If you’re curious to learn more, come at 9 a.m. on Sunday and see what we can discover together. You don’t have to be a scholar to learn together. See you there!
Be blessed and be a blessing,
Mary+
