THE SMILE

I was thinking as I started out on my walk how the love of God seems to smile upon us through nature, especially with all the amazing colors that bloom year round.  I turned the corner and walked along and see a big East Indian man with a black beard and a turban on and he totally surprised me when he gave me a huge smile and said hello.  I carry on and stop at the cross-lights to cross the road and a friendly looking man is waiting with me so we smile at each other.  Then as we cross the road together he tells me my smile has made my day!

I find that words can actually smile at you; maybe that does not make sense, but it is like they speak right to your heart with a message of hope or love or comfort.  Words of scripture especially speak to me that way.  I do not take them literally because like Job I do not have to believe what others think that God is like.

When I read the Old Testament I see that the nation that became Israel wanted to be in a relationship with God, whose name they did not even say, who they thought of as very powerful.  The covenant upon which their relationship was to be built was to be one of love that demanded we treat others with justice.

It is hard for us to understand that blood sacrifices were a redemptive function that sealed a promise, allowed for purification and atonement of sin.  We do not live by these customs today and find it sickening. 

John Dominic Crossan believes that it was Jesus's action of over-turning the tables of the money changers and the vendors selling animals for sacrifice that led to his crucifixion.  Did this mean that Jesus was defending the victims even including animals.

Of course whatever we say about the sacred is a projection of our human experiences.  To see those who wrote scripture as very human does not take away from it's value but requires study and prayer to allow the spirit to reveal what is hidden, and what speaks to us in this modern world. 

I believe the Bible to be an amazing book full of truth and light, but also very real in recognizing the power of evil and darkness.  Not an easy book to understand even with all it's stories and symbols and ancient beliefs.

I believe in a God who smiles because I believed that Jesus smiled upon people and did not condemn them but encouraged them to love God because He was a God of love and to love your neighbor as yourself.

Faith is expressed in our emotions as well as in our knowledge that has grown so much since the Bible was written.  The heart and soul longs for goodness and peace and I need help in finding how to live out what God means to me.  The most important thing is that I have the freedom to choose who I listen to; and to look for the goodness and love, that is there even when I am struggling and longing for God to intervene and change a situation.  Only the spirit can lift my despair and ease my pain when I feel that God is smiling upon me with compassion.

"We seek an ancient God and a modern God"