-Rev Melissa Fain- I'm not going to lie to you. Since I was eight, and first learned about Lent, I've wanted to joke about this homonym. Now that I've done it, I've got no regrets. No, Lent isn't the fuzz you pull out of your dryer. That kind of lint is ugly and should be thrown away. This kind of Lent is beautiful if used correctly. Lent is the 40 days, once you subtract the Sundays, before Easter. The timing is symbolic of wilderness time. The Israelites wandered the desert for 40 years. Jesus was in the Wilderness for 40 days before beginning his ministry. Now all of us, whether we are lifetime church goers or not, can pinpoint the beginning of Lent. The day before Lent is Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday. As a kid, I had no idea that Mardi Gras was purposefully always the day before then Lenten season. I've heard crazy stories of drunkenness, nakedness and general debauchery tied to the New Orleans event. That's because it was traditionally supposed to be used as the last day to use your fat and yeast in your kitchen. Also, if you had red meat- cook it. A traditional fast doesn't use any of these, so Fat Tuesday was the day to make them worth something before one fasted. Mardi Gras, however, has kinda taken on a life of it's own. Maybe we'll get into that next week. Today, we continue on Lent. Coming from a Protestant tradition, I was taught Lent was a time to give up a vice.I can still remember being introduced to Lenten time by being given a bag of chocolate, and then being told we shouldn't eat it until Easter. That was the first time I considered the shelf life of chocolate. Age has diversified and deepened many of my views, including Lent. This is less about giving something up, and more about preparing for Easter. This is why the season happens before it. True, one can give up sweet, smooth chocolaty goodness to prepare but, one could also choose to start morning prayers. It's about preparing and preparing takes takes both forms of giving up and taking on. For example, the Wilderness helped the Israelites give up servitude, but it also helped them pick up personal leadership. It helped them give up the Egyptian ways, but pick up God's ways. It helped them prepare to be their own people. This is my questioning, how are you deepening your Christian journey by preparing for Easter? What are you doing for Lent? Fig Tree is everywhere! Well not really everywhere, but there are other places to find us!
On Facebook: www.Facebook.com/FigTreeChristian On Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FigTreeTweet On Reddit: www.Reddit.com/r/FigTreeChristian Check out these different sites, and how they are unique and connect to God in a secular world. Then show up at 2pm on our Facebook page, as we learn about the bible and God, and connect with worship in a sacred way. -Rev Melissa Fain- The Bible is a book we should take seriously, but not literally. There is a wealth of knowledge behind it's leather bound cover, so why don't I take a literal view? Here are five reasons why: I love the book too much. Usually when I see an article about biblical authenticity, the words are littered with disregard. I get it. For me, the Bible was a mystical document. The stories were taught with joy and wonder. I know not everyone had that experience. For some, the Bible is only a dusty tome. For others, the Bible is a razor sharp sword, that has wounded them. Still others see a book of fairy tales and nothing else. I'm here to say, the biblical stories have changed my life for the better. That happened because the adults who taught it were humble enough to say, "I don't know," or "What do you think?" You can't make those statements if all the answers are already there, or if the biblical hate is literal. You can make those statements if you believe God is just as alive today as when those stories were written. I love the biblical canon so much, because the bible reminds us that God is with us. When you are a scared eight year old, needing to call 911 because your stepdad just threatened to kill everyone, "God with us," seems more important than "God was there." BUT- learning "God was there" through the Bible, helped me see "God with us" when I was eight. The Bible is not a weapon. The people who treat the Bible like a dangerous weapon can usually tell a personal story where the Bible was weaponized against them personally. I too have stories. I did not hear them until I was a young adult, but they hurt none-the-less. Literal readers often are not contextual readers. Contextual readers of the Bible, see the Bible like an entire pane of glass. They tend to look at entire chapters instead of piecemeal verses. Taking out single verses to throw at someone, is like letting that glass drop to the ground and fragment. They were never meant to be read that way, and they cut. What people take from having those fragments thrown their way is that the Bible cuts. Well, the Bible was never meant to be used in that manner. It was meant to be looked through in it's entirety. The reason biblical literalists don't consider the context, is because they are taught every part of the Bible can be used to educate. I actually do believe this, but unlike them I'm looking for contextual clues. I'm trying to understand a fragment as it relates to the entire pane of glass. Most literalists don't consider how they need something to understand the text, because that would somehow lessen the power of the scripture. To me, it weaponizes the beauty of the scripture. We are already working with a fragment. I've spent years trying to wrap my head around this idea, but it still makes absolutely no sense to me. If one were to take the Bible literally, that means the way the stories were written were the literal way they happened. Only, the entire picture is never there. We are an outsider to the biblical narrative. There is so much we take for granted! We rarely know the emotional feelings of these biblical titans. We have no idea what is going on around the scene. As in, what are people doing while Jesus writes in dirt? What is Jesus writing in the dirt? Also, Internal dialogue is often lost. We can draw the assumption that Job cursed God with his heart, but we have no internal dialogue from Job. Before the words were written down, these stories were told verbally as sacred tellings. There was inflection, and cues that were lost once the ink hit the papyrus. Then we don't consider the God moments lost because of the context. Like Paul writes to those who can read. That's the rich in the Christian circles. We will never know what he said when he talked with the poor, if he talked with the poor. When one considers how much is not said in the Bible, it baffles me how literalists can't understand why people can come to differing points of views. Shadenfreude. German is an interesting language to me. First, it's interesting how English connects. Then, there are so many words that can't really be translated easily. Shadenfreude is one of those words. Literally means "pity joy." One cannot get the full meaning just from a literal translation. The full definition is happiness in the misfortune of others. Even this doesn't really encapsulate the full meaning. The Broadway musical, Avenue Q, did the best job defining this word to an English audience. "Did you ever laugh when a waitress falls, and drops a tray of glasses?" It's that feeling you get when you realize someone else's misfortune makes you feel better about your own life. It's petty, I'm not here to condone that specific word, and how it's used. What I want to do is use it to explain how some words don't translate well. Not all words have a one to one translation ratio. Not only do we have a translation of the actual events to a verbal story, to written dialogue, but as an English audience, we have the Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic story being translated to English. More than that, there are Greek and Hebrew texts of the Hebrew Bible. Both are really old. Both are important. At times, they contradict one another. While you read your NIV, NKJV, NRSV or whatever translation you have chosen, remember it's a translation. The truth and reality of the moment is richer than the word left to explain it. I've got to have five? Oh, right. I wrote this in click-bait form. Five is a good number for that kind of thing. Why did I do that again? Right, so you would click-read-share. That's how this works. I took five minutes of your time for a quick little distraction. Well, the Bible is not Clickbait. It is a lifelong journey. Anyone who tells you they read the bible and they didn't get anything from it, is probably telling the truth. Because its an inspired work of God instead of the literal one, it takes research and time to understand what you are reading. Some churches get around all that time by hiring one person who dedicates themselves to sharing their biblical journey with the congregation. I will say, this is a dangerous way to go about it. Putting all your biblical understanding on one man or woman can quickly lead a congregation down a wrong road. We are still discovering ancient manuscripts, and finding connections in archaeological digs. There will never be enough time to learn it all. I'm so grateful for the journey. I'm a woman with a Master's Degree in Divinity, and I'm no where near done studying the Bible. I like that. What do you think? What would you add to my list, expand or take-away. I'd love to hear your opinion! Fig Tree is everywhere! Well not really everywhere, but there are other places to find us!
On Facebook: www.Facebook.com/FigTreeChristian On Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FigTreeTweet On Reddit: www.Reddit.com/r/FigTreeChristian Check out these different sites, and how they are unique and connect to God in a secular world. Then show up at 2pm on our Facebook page, as we learn about the bible and God, and connect with worship in a sacred way. |
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