Reading the Bible Again
“We don’t go brain dead when we read the Scriptures. We need not hesitate to use our intellects—informed by many disciplines—as we approach the Scriptures. How does what you are reading in the Scriptures resonate with your own life experience? If not, then what? The Anglican approach is to be on good speaking terms with Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience.”—Br. Curtis Almquist, SSJE, from “Brother, Give Us a Word,” a daily email sent to friends and followers of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist (SSJE.org).
The Bible is a library of many books. It is our road map, not the final destination. It contains many writings from people seeking a connection to God. We have so much to learn from them. We relate to their struggles, joys, sorrows, and the peace they find through a deep connection to God. The Bible is the story of God’s relationship with God’s people. That’s all of us.
We are continually amazed at how a passage can mean something different to us when we read it a week, a year, or later. This experience happens when we relate our lives, the lives of those around us, and the world around us to what we are reading in Scripture.
Br. Almquist asks us to use our intellect to reflect on what we read in Scripture. What was going on in the lives of the people when these books were written? Were they being persecuted? How different are our lives today from theirs? How are they the same?
Find out what other sources say. Br. Almquist asks us to use our reason and experience. How does our history help us understand what we are reading? We also have a rich tradition of holy mothers and fathers who have struggled and inwardly digested Holy Scripture. We are to investigate what they have to say.
I have always believed the Holy Spirit did not stop working after the many books of the Bible were written. The Holy Spirit works in us and in those with whom we live in community, helping us read and hear Scripture and discern what it says today in the twenty-first century.
My tradition encourages us to read from the Hebrew Bible each day, along with one Psalm, one New Testament letter, and one Gospel passage.
Here is my confession: I try to follow this rule. Sometimes I skip parts. Sometimes I read only the first and last verses of the Psalm and use them as a mantra for the day. Other times, I choose just one reading, especially when it is part of a continuing story in the Hebrew Bible.
I love biblical narratives, such as the story of Queen Esther, even though God is never mentioned in that book. I also try to follow the adventures of Paul and the early Christians—again, more stories. Some have become old friends, as in a recent reading about Paul meeting Aquila and Priscilla in Corinth after they fled Rome. I do what I can. I have stopped beating myself up for not reading it all. I am learning that the Holy Spirit will speak to me in whatever measure I can receive. My job is to remain faithful to the connection. I confess that I am sometimes committed and sometimes less faithful, but something leads me to keep striving.
Joanna joannaseibert.com
