Letting scripture read you

Both Christian and Jewish mystics throughout the centuries have urged us to not read scripture, but to let it read us. We can open ourselves up to hearing God's voice speaking to us as we meditatively read scripture. If we do this, we will find that the same passage will say different things to us at different times in our lives.

I experienced this recently. A few weeks ago I was listening to an interview with Robert Alter, who has produced a new translation of the book of Psalms. As he was discussing his translation of Psalm 23, I was taken back to a time many years ago where I had an incredible experience with reading it. It was during a prolonged period where God seemed so distant to me. It seemed like my prayers were just bouncing off of the ceiling. This had been going on for over a year when one night I sat down and read Psalm 23. As I read "Yea, though I walk through the valley of death, You are with me..." I suddenly had this tremendous insight that God was with me this whole time, even though He was "invisible" and that I needed to know that He was present and to trust Him. This brought me great solace.

As I was listening to Robert Alter read his version of Psalm 23, however, I had a very different experience. I realized that rather than God making Himself "invisible" to me, it was the other way around. Lately, I have been holding God at arm's length, not wanting to be too close to Him. I have been avoiding God. In essence, I was the one making Him "walk through a dark valley" through my inattention to His presence. Unlike years ago, where I was fervently seeking Him and He was no where to be found, now God was fervently seeking me and could not "find" me.

So this same passage, read at two different times, years apart, said something different to me. The first one brought me solace and comfort at a time when I really needed it. The second time brought me a challenge and a wake up call to see that I was ignoring God.

I encourage all of you to let scripture read you rather than simply reading scripture. If you do so, in time, you will hear the voice of God speaking to you where you are at right now in the present moment.

A Rare Privilege

Last week was the ending of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles). I had ordered a book that contains all sorts of stories and anecdotes about the holiday but did not get it until afterwards. There was one story that I liked enough to send along even if the holiday is over. Here it is.


A Rare Privilege

Rabbi Mordechai was not very wealthy but each year he managed to save up enough money to buy a nice lulav and etrog set[1]. On his way to a nearby city to buy it though, he came across a man who was crying next to a cart and his dead horse.

Filled with compassion, he asked the man, “Why are you crying?”

“My horse was just killed in an accident and without him I am unable to earn a living” the man said.

Immediately Rabbi Mordechai gave his lulav & etrog money to the man so that he could buy a new horse. He said, “God commanded me to wave the lulav and etrog, but He also commanded me to take care of the needy.” So he returned home empty handed.

When the village folk asked to see his new set, he told them, “All Jews will say a blessing over the lulav and etrog during Sukkot. But this year, only I have the rare privilege of saying it over a horse.”

---

[1]The lulav is a bundle of 3 plants; myrtle, palm, and willow. An etrog is a citrus fruit grown in Israel. These are waved in praise to God throughout the 7-day feast as commanded by God in the Torah.

We are all messed up

I was talking with a friend recently about a situation which revolves around a person who is a Christian and loves God but who is so completely caught up in their own issues that they are making life very difficult for themselves and those around them. This person is completely blind to the fact that much of their thoughts and behavior are driven by past hurts and present fears.

We tend to think that just because people are believers that they "have it all together". The reality is quite the opposite. We are a collection of fairly messed and sometimes downright dysfunctional people who happen to love God and seek to follow Him. We are in need of much healing. Like it or not we are more often than not driven by our past hurts, current desires, and fear of the future.

Quite often the message that we receive in our congregations is that since we have committed our hearts and lives to God, we don't need anything more; that we have somehow arrived. I think that such messages do all of us a great disservice. As followers of Yeshua, as people who desire to be holy and whole, we should be constantly striving to improve ourselves and freeing ourselves from these driving forces within us that lead to hurting ourselves and others. We need to be seeking God's face on a regular basis asking for Him to reveal to us where we need healing.

Quite often we are totally blind to the reality of this. We cannot see without careful self-awareness and introspection.

Where are you driven by past hurts? Do you react strongly to certain "triggers"? Are you harboring past resentments? Are you afraid of the future? Do you have inordinate desires for something?

These questions are difficult to face, but they must be on a regular basis if we are to grow into God's image. These things keep us from being unconditional love. We need to ruthlessly ferret them out of our lives through prayer, through reflection, and through talking with trusted friends or a spiritual leader.


peace,
izzy