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Life Ways Understanding the Word...the User-Friendly
Way Sometimes understanding the Bible can seem as complex as deciphering a computer program manual. Here are a few tips that will put you on the fast track to discovering through the Scripture a deeper relationship with your God. Reading the Scriptures is a privileged moment of dynamic dialogue, earth shattering encounter. It is daring to risk entering into a relationship with the God who confronts, who passionately loves, who gets angry, who suffers, who liberates.... The Bible is a living word that as St. Paul tells us, "strikes more truly than a two edged sword," dividing bone from marrow, truth from falsity, right from wrong, good from bad (cf. Hebrews 4). The Word makes me choose between the steep uphill climb to holiness and the wide and easy path that meanders through twilight. The Word of God awakens me from a half-conscious existence; the Word is a raging fire that devours everything in its path. Be careful, therefore, when you pick up the Scriptures and start to read. The Bible is a record of God's attitudes, and they are "strange" attitudes indeed. They don't make sense in today's modern, competitive, computerized society. Take, for instance, the absurd saying, "The last shall be first, and the first shall be last." Now whoever would believe that today? "Everybody for themselves" is the maxim that would characterize most. Oh, we don't say it to ourselves or to anyone else. But what is it that makes us finagle our way to the front of the grocery lines (Are we really that important?), or why are we so driven to appear available for the big, splashy jobs in the company (are we eager to live out the more valuable things in life, such as family, worship, spiritual growth)? Or what about another absolutely baffling statement like this: "It is good for someone to bear the yoke, Can we yearn for the healing and interior freedom to be able to accept our past, as these words of the poet say, to integrate into our lives the wounds and the pain, so that we are able to sing, "It is good to wait in silence for Yahweh to save" (Lamentations 3: 25-27 JB). A Note about the Bible's "Programmer" The Bible is a record of the expression of God's attitudes toward us. We encounter a God who is intimately involved in the lives of people--individuals as real as you and me. We hear him speak with tenderness, dismay, anger, tears, love. He, so to speak, "rolls up his sleeves" and gets down to the business of helping us make sense out of our lives. God is direct, confrontational, compassionate and firm. He knows what we can become and for his part, he will do all he can to enable us to outreach ourselves and to become just that. God works patiently, methodically and very slowly to make his "dreams for us come true. And even when we counter his efforts over and over again, he works even that into his plan and somehow makes us come out ahead. He speaks to us through the Scriptures. The Word will not let us rest until we respond. Mastering the "Program" To dialogue with the Word, set aside a stretch of time in which you won't be pressed into other responsibilities and choose a quiet place alone. It should be a relaxing and beautiful environment. Tell God what you want. Maybe you want to be consoled, or shaken up or guided. Then open the Bible and turn the pages till your eyes stop at a specific passage. Or perhaps you may want to read the Bible more methodically. In any case, read and savor the passage. When reading any Scripture passage, we are entering into an encounter with a Person. We need to ask ourselves, how does this passage make me feel? Happy? Sad? Angry? Apathetic? Hopeful? Discouraged? These are the feelings we need to express to the Lord. He is inviting us to a reaction and a concrete response. We do not have to be afraid of our reactions. We may read a passage from Scripture and find ourselves getting angry. That's okay. But as in any close friendship, we need to be free enough to bring our anger to God and explore it with him. We may discover that God's attitude changes to compassion, as we vent our anger in his presence. After we calm down, we realize that God is not afraid of our anger, that we can be "real" in his presence, that his love for us is more powerful than our emotions, that he understands and is inviting us to make a decision about what to do with our anger. For instance, a woman reading Luke 2:41-50, which describes Mary's dismay at losing her son and how solicitously she searched for him in Jerusalem, may suddenly feel angry. The feelings that are welling up within her are like a blinking red light, telling her to stop and listen. After a few moments (or maybe a few days) she may realize that she is angry at God because she feels her mother, who was an alcoholic, was never there for her. Where had God been in the confusion and pain of her childhood? As she cries before the Lord (maybe the first tears she has shed over her childhood),she may experience the arms of the Lord reaching out in compassion and embracing her. For as long as the experience lasts, she should allow the Lord to love her. As she continues to read the Bible in the weeks and months that follow, she may find other areas of imprisonment within her, aspects of her life that she wants to be freed and healed. She may discuss these with a friend, seek spiritual direction or counseling. But she continues to dialogue and to listen to Lord speaking to her in his Word, as he gently and gradually leads her to interior peace. Or a man who is filled with a sense of unworthiness, may find himself reading over and over again the book of Isaiah. He will speak to the Lord about his feelings when he reads passages like: "To make up for your shame, you will receive double; instead of disgrace, shouts of joy will be their lot" (Isaiah 61:7 JB). It is an incredible promise, but so great it can hardly be believed by someone who is convinced that he is bad and that there is no future. He can tell God how he feels and discover that maybe he is afraid. To believe the promises of God would mean that the individual would have to do some major changing. It is easy to get stuck in a quagmire and difficult to pull oneself out. But as he repeats these promises of the Lord over and over again to himself, he will discover that the Lord is striking a match deep within his soul, lighting a fire that could possibly be the beginning of a great conflagration. He does not have to be stuck in his negativism forever. Little by little his energy becomes focused on achieving the positive promises of the Lord. As he continues to dialogue with the Word, he will become stronger and more determined; the promise will be too attractive to resist. Making the Program "Work" for You Prayer can never be compartmentalized into a corner of our life, divorced from reality and from the "stuff" that makes us who we are. Prayer becomes more real, the more we have the courage to be "real" ourselves. Our encounter with the living, breathing, angry, consoling, promising, suffering God of the Scriptures enables us to feel more comfortable with the experience of our own emotions and to bring them up to the Lord, allowing him to heal us. The Word of God is not simply a word; it is a living Person. A daily Bible-break is one of the most effective ways of slaking our thirst for a deeper meaning in our life and a closer relationship with God. Sometimes what we most long for, we most resist and even fear. Reflection on the Word little by little weds our life to Christ's, until we finally realize that we are Christ and we were all along. It is the gift of our baptism. A simple ancient fable tells of a man who was seeking the Beloved. he knocked on his door and heart from inside: "Who is there?" The seeker replied, "It is I." The Beloved responded: "There is no room in here for both of us." Despondent, he went away into the forest and for many months reflected on these words. After a long time he returned and knocked once more. Again he was asked: "Who is there?" This time the seeker replied, "It is Thee!" The Beloved opened the door to receive him. The power of the Word is precisely this changing of the "I' into "Thee." It penetrates and weakens our defensive fears and allows our real self to emerge and blossom in the sun of God's love. Our real self is not an actor who moves gracefully through a perfectly synchronized environment without strain or pressure. Becoming "Thee" is letting the Word challenge us to let go of control and allow Jesus to inhabit our thoughts, our behavior, our attitudes, our values, our conversations, our reactions, our prayer. In a complicated life in which there is too much to do, too many tasks, too many needs, too much going on, where it is impossible not to be forever two steps behind, becoming "Thee" means experiencing the rhythm of God's agenda in our life. We needn't worry that it all might not get finished, all the needs might not be met. We receive each day from God, along with a "word" specially chosen for us from His "Word"--God's program for the day. And that's what makes the difference. Bible Goal-setting We have an experience of God when his Word meets our life, changes it, fulfills it and is generated in it. The concrete events of everyday give life a precise outline to the Word of God. We can center each day around Scripture as we set goals for renewing our life. 1. In the morning, think of the different situations you might encounter that day. Tell God briefly how you feel about them. 2. Open up the Bible. Read until a phrase seems to "jump out at you." 3. Read it with an attitude of surprise and reverence. It is a mystery that will unfold during the day. Ask God for light. 4. During the day, allow every thought, feeling, word and project to take inspiration from that Word. 5. Before retiring, recall the Word read in the morning. The events of the day have caused the Word to take on new dimensions. The Word embraces our life, extends its boundaries, turns our day into a theophany--a revelation of the mystery and love of God.
Trivia Where does the Word speak about: the faithfulness of God? (Deuteronomy 4:29-31)
Copyright © 1999-2003, Daughters of St. Paul. All Rights Reserved.
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