THE WRITTEN WORD

A picture reveals the beauty I would like to share with you.

I like to see with my own eyes so that I can experience what I have been told. I can tell you that I have this lovely pond where I like to walk and it reflects the awesome light of the sky and it always touches my soul like nothing else. Nature speaks of the heart of the Creator who desires to bring beauty into our lives.

I like the assurance of seeing something written down because I do not always remember or even hear things right. To be sure there was Bible study today I had to look on the church calender and yes it was on today. Actually there were two studies. One was my group that has been meeting and sharing for years. We have fun together but also are honest and open about how we feel and what is wrong with the church and with Christianity. We have questions that are taken from the scriptures and that we try to apply to our own lives. Yes, we are followers of Jesus, but we make mistakes and we mess up. We believe in the power of grace that frees us from grace and shame. Jesus calls us to love the unloveable and to speak out against injustice.

Yes, the words of Jesus sometimes disturb us, and yet we return time and time again to read did he really say that?

There are words like justification and salvation and repentance and santification that are too much for us to digest and understand and have become words of a legal terms that force us to put on masks because we do not live up to what we believe Jesus taught us.

Jesus offers us the good news of grace and gradual transformation. It is a path like the one that takes me to the pond where the light reflects the beauty and can even take my breath away. At times it is good to be still and let the light and warmth of God's flow upon us.

There was also a new study group meeting. They are being challenged by the words of Marcus Borg, Walter Bruggerman, John Dominic Crossan, Matthew Fox, J. S. Spong and others. I am familar with some of their writings and will be doing this course at another time. We could choose to move on to this indepth study but only one left our group to do so. We value our friendship and in the end Jesus calls us into relationship with him and with each other.