The B-I-B-L-E, yes that’s the book for me. I stand alone on the word of God, the B-I-B-L-E. Do you remember that childhood Sunday School song? Perhaps not. It could have been a regional song……. particular to the Bible belt area where I grew up.  It had a catchy, little tune and really was meant to be as much an affirmation as music. The message was…the Bible is the only book I need.

Make no mistake, I love the Bible. I love the people who live within the pages and I love the stories of their lives. I do, however, sometimes get weary of how we can argue and divide ourselves over the interpretations of those stories….the messages of those people. I’ve led enough Bible studies and been present at enough meetings where the ‘word of God’ turns into finger-pointing, "I’ve got the real truth" bullying matches. It can wear on one’s spirit…….and it must grieve the Holy.

This week I was reading a chapter from Leaving Church:a memoir of faith by Barbara Brown Taylor. She had, what I thought, were very profound words to say about this very divisive way we can read scripture. She writes: "I know that the Bible is a special kind of book, but I find it as seductive as any other. If I am not careful, I can begin to mistake the words on the page for the realities they describe. I can begin to love the dried ink marks on the page more than I love the encounters that gave rise to them. If I am not careful, I can decide that I am really much happier reading my Bible than I am entering what God is doing in my own time and place, since shutting the book to go outside will involve the very great risk of taking part in stories that are still taking shape. Neither I nor anyone else knows how these stories will turn out, since at this point they involve more blood than ink. The whole purpose of the Bible, it seems to me, is to convince people to set the written word down in order to become living words in the world for God’s sake. For me, this willing conversion of ink to blood is the full substance of faith."

It is important for me to remember, when in the midst of the ‘scripture wars’, that I am blessed nearly every day…….watching ink converted to blood, witnessing people who have the courage to risk taking part in stories that, as of yet, are still being written. I bet you are, too.