This started as a reply to comments on a post on G+.
I want to thank each person who participates in the "Bible Study for Atheists" & "Christian vs Christian" posts. The ability to post your opinions freely without fear of attack is really something special in today's virtual world.
When I briefly attended an Evangelical Church, I was at an incredibly low time in my life. It was so different than the Catholic Church I was used to. The pastor spoke about the Bible, not only from a Christian view, but from an academic view. He spoke about how there are different Christians. That the devil can come in many forms... including Christian. That the Bible is capable of healing many people and the world.
Whether someone reads the Bible literally, or figuratively, makes no difference to me, or how I use the Bible. The Bible is just one tool in my massive tool bag of life training.
The Bible is not the only place I have found salvation, from myself, from my demons, from my devil. The Bible is just one place. Salvation doesn't automatically mean that only GOD can save me. Salvation is a word. I can save myself.
The Bible is not the only place where I can mentally slow myself down enough to relax. The tension leaves my body, and I let go of all the stress around me (meditate). The Bible isn't the only place that I allow myself to love myself and allow others to love me too.
I enjoy meditating, to find my demons, to love myself and to figure out, how, to allow, others to love me when I don't love myself. I can go to this place within my mind, when I read other authors, like Rumi, listen to music, or exercise on the beach, or catch the scent of a dewy summer morning. My body is my temple. My body is my church.
A person can also bring me to this same peaceful and centered place. When a person opens up to me, and shares the truths they have locked inside; I instantly feel that connection. That acknowledgement, that I have heard this person's story before, from other peoples lips. That I know the struggles and pain that they go through. That they are lost. That they need tools to help them. I would love to offer them the Bible, as a start. However, so many people have trapped the Bible in a tower so far away from us. It is too far away from us, and I don't know if anyone has the patience to travel with me to get it.
The Bible lives deep in the pits of Hell, in a tower that is constantly glowing from the heat of the anger that surrounds it. People try to get to it by normal means, but their physical bodies cannot travel through the Earth to see it. We know that it is guarded by millions of people. Some of those people are standing watch at empty towers. They do not know where the Bible really is. This was done intentionally to hide the Bible from those who want to destroy it. Those millions of people stand watch at an empty tower because they were told to do so. The heat and stress from standing in Hell has impaired their judgement. They do not have the strength to stand, much less question why they are standing there. When they see minds start to enter Hell, looking for the book, every person at every tower cries out trying to help them find the book. They are crying out with desperation, that the Bible is found, and they believe they are guarding it. There is no book in of any of the towers.
For my lost friends, I often turn to other tools that have less objections to their use. I am not a Christian, but I value the stories in the Bible. I value the way that I can use this book to understand other people. It is not about knowing the lineage of each human being, and expecting this book to answer it. It is not about proving someone wrong. Sure some people truly believe that they are guarding the book in the tower. They have not discovered that the Bible is a tool!
I believe that we are all connected. I do not know how I can explain it, or make someone believe it. I suppose the same way that someone else cannot convince me that there was a speaking serpent in the Garden of Eden. I don't know how a seed has all the information to grow into a complex plant without someone "programming" it to do so. I don't know which came first the chicken or the egg.
I do know, that I use the Bible as a tool. Because so many people are influenced by it, or quote from it, or act because the "Bible Told" them so . . . I feel it should be something that people choose to read and to understand.
The Bible is a great tool, and currently doing exactly what I hoped would happen. Presenting the Bible from an academic point of view, and reading it as a story, has allowed people to comment and share their beliefs in a safe environment. I didn't plan on hosting a Bible study series. I love interacting with people and helping people achieve a greater understanding of each other. We live on one Earth. There are many people who live here who have the capability to destroy our planet. Some can do it with just a push of a button, while others need massive numbers of people to achieve world destruction. Each of us has the capability to help destroy or save our world.
I try to do my part the best I can from my little corner of Earth. Please . . . anyone who shares in my dream of world peace . . . please share me with those who follow you and the public. Help ignite a generation of understanding and peace. Heck . . . even share me on Facebook and Twitter. . . it is that important.
MTFBWU
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