Though I hate the term and all the cliche stereotypes that come with it, I am a bit of a feminist. Pretty much everyone knows that things weren't all that good for women in the Bible. I knew that going in. I prepared myself for it and steeled myself against my gut reactions when I read things that made me angry and sad for the women that didn't get to experience the lifestyle I do.
I've been so impressed that I haven't yet railed on the injustices against women in Bible. I'm 4 days away from finishing reading the entire Bible and I almost made it. Almost but not quite.
I've heard about the parts of the Bible that describe a woman's role in the church...which would be no role at all. And it made me angry but nothing quite prepared me for reading the words, supposedly from God Himself, in harsh black and white type.
1 Timothy 2:11-12
"A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man; she must be silent."
There's not much I can say as a response to that - except this: I've known some amazing woman ministers. To silence them would be to rob us of a gift from God.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
The Bachelor: Jerusalem
So here's something I never thought I'd consider: how is the apostle Paul like George Clooney? Apparently they are both against marriage. Here are some of Paul's thoughts on the subject.
1 Corinthians 7:1 "Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry..."
1 Corinthians 7:8 "Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am."
1 Corinthians 7:27 "...Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife"
1 Corinthians 7:28 "...But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this."
The ironic thing about this? The most commonly used wedding verse comes from this same book of the Bible.
1 Corinthians 7:1 "Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry..."
1 Corinthians 7:8 "Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am."
1 Corinthians 7:27 "...Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife"
1 Corinthians 7:28 "...But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this."
The ironic thing about this? The most commonly used wedding verse comes from this same book of the Bible.
Losing a Friend
I really enjoyed the Gospels. For me, it seemed the mood in Matthew, Mark. Luke and John was happy. Jesus had finally come, even though the people of the time did not exactly know that. To any Christian, I think Jesus is the symbol of their faith. I'm no different in that respect. And this was what the big buildup was all about.
In these 4 books, it's like you meet a new friend whom you discover you've come to love. You relish the moments you get to spend with him and are excited to learn more about him. Hearing what he has to say is a pleasure and you find yourself wanting more. I didn't care for the large amount of repetition (It seemed Matthew, Mark, Luke and John could have just divvied up the parables instead of all of them reporting on everything. Maybe they couldn't decide who would write what.) but that was my only complaint.
But then, as is often the case in life, it all comes to an end. In Acts, Jesus is taken up to Heaven and no longer physically with the people on Earth. I found this book to be similar to losing a friend. I've lost a lot of people in my life, whether it be to death or simply moves to faraway places and I noticed that reading the books after the Gospels, I felt a familiar sadness that comes with losing someone I love. As I was reading Acts and Romans, I couldn't help but think of the "good old days" of reading the Gospels when Jesus was among the people. It made me sad to continue reading because the good part was already over.
I've noticed that now, even more than when I was struggling through the Old Testament, I just want to be done. I don't want to read any more. Thankfully, I don't have much more to read. But I have a feeling getting through the next 75 pages might be even harder than getting through the first 973 was.
In these 4 books, it's like you meet a new friend whom you discover you've come to love. You relish the moments you get to spend with him and are excited to learn more about him. Hearing what he has to say is a pleasure and you find yourself wanting more. I didn't care for the large amount of repetition (It seemed Matthew, Mark, Luke and John could have just divvied up the parables instead of all of them reporting on everything. Maybe they couldn't decide who would write what.) but that was my only complaint.
But then, as is often the case in life, it all comes to an end. In Acts, Jesus is taken up to Heaven and no longer physically with the people on Earth. I found this book to be similar to losing a friend. I've lost a lot of people in my life, whether it be to death or simply moves to faraway places and I noticed that reading the books after the Gospels, I felt a familiar sadness that comes with losing someone I love. As I was reading Acts and Romans, I couldn't help but think of the "good old days" of reading the Gospels when Jesus was among the people. It made me sad to continue reading because the good part was already over.
I've noticed that now, even more than when I was struggling through the Old Testament, I just want to be done. I don't want to read any more. Thankfully, I don't have much more to read. But I have a feeling getting through the next 75 pages might be even harder than getting through the first 973 was.
Monday, March 14, 2011
The Finish Line is in Sight
As I write this, I have only 2 weeks left of reading to finish the Bible. That kind of made me stop and think a bit. Have I changed at all in the last 9 weeks? Maybe. Am I a different person? Probably not. Is that ok? Yeah - I think so.
Pastor Becca recently told me she was surprised that I decided to take part in reading the Bible in 90 days. Honestly, so am I. After all these days and all these pages, I'm still not sure why I decided to do it. I kind of wish I did. Was I looking for something? And if I was, did I find it? I don't know if I'll have answers to these questions anytime soon. Maybe this is something I'll need some distance to discover.
In the meantime, I have about 200 more pages to get through first.
Pastor Becca recently told me she was surprised that I decided to take part in reading the Bible in 90 days. Honestly, so am I. After all these days and all these pages, I'm still not sure why I decided to do it. I kind of wish I did. Was I looking for something? And if I was, did I find it? I don't know if I'll have answers to these questions anytime soon. Maybe this is something I'll need some distance to discover.
In the meantime, I have about 200 more pages to get through first.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Valued
I've just started reading Matthew and already I like it much better than anything I read in the Old Testament. And yes, part of the reason is that the material is easier to read. And yes, the stories are familiar ones that I heard as a kid, but there's something else.
Not being one that's comfortable with talking about, or even dealing with, feelings...this realization took me by surprise but I think I like this book because of how it (Eeek!) makes me feel. This book actually makes one feel like they have value to someone or something else.
In Matthew 10:31 Jesus is giving his disciples instructions and one of the examples he gives is about sparrows that were apparently a bargain item back in the day at the price of 2 for a penny (or 2 for a Greek assarion - which is weird because American money and Greek money wouldn't seem to be the currency that comes to mind in the Middle East in Biblical times but what do I know?). Then Jesus says, "...you are worth more than many sparrows." And later in Matthew 12:12, after someone was testing him about healing someone on the Sabbath, Jesus tells a parable about rescuing a sheep that falls into a pit. He says, "How much more valuable is a man than a sheep!"
After 809 pages of reading about a vengeful, punishing and seemingly arbitrary God, it's a nice change of pace to see His "softer" side. But there is more to it for me. It's refreshing, maybe even comforting, to be told you have value. I'm sure there are people that think I have value. Intellectually, I know this. But a lot of times I don't necessarily feel it. People really don't say that kind of thing to each other much. It probably isn't too far-fetched to say that one of the reasons I'm so addicted to achieving is that is how I feel I have value - I can do this or I can do that so I'm worthy of taking up space.
As hard as one might try, you can't earn value from achievements. It's nice to be told once in a while that you don't have to.
Not being one that's comfortable with talking about, or even dealing with, feelings...this realization took me by surprise but I think I like this book because of how it (Eeek!) makes me feel. This book actually makes one feel like they have value to someone or something else.
In Matthew 10:31 Jesus is giving his disciples instructions and one of the examples he gives is about sparrows that were apparently a bargain item back in the day at the price of 2 for a penny (or 2 for a Greek assarion - which is weird because American money and Greek money wouldn't seem to be the currency that comes to mind in the Middle East in Biblical times but what do I know?). Then Jesus says, "...you are worth more than many sparrows." And later in Matthew 12:12, after someone was testing him about healing someone on the Sabbath, Jesus tells a parable about rescuing a sheep that falls into a pit. He says, "How much more valuable is a man than a sheep!"
After 809 pages of reading about a vengeful, punishing and seemingly arbitrary God, it's a nice change of pace to see His "softer" side. But there is more to it for me. It's refreshing, maybe even comforting, to be told you have value. I'm sure there are people that think I have value. Intellectually, I know this. But a lot of times I don't necessarily feel it. People really don't say that kind of thing to each other much. It probably isn't too far-fetched to say that one of the reasons I'm so addicted to achieving is that is how I feel I have value - I can do this or I can do that so I'm worthy of taking up space.
As hard as one might try, you can't earn value from achievements. It's nice to be told once in a while that you don't have to.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Now on to the Good Stuff?
I have now finished reading the entire Old Testament - and in 60 days flat. (It should be noted that the reading plan called for 68 days but as I've pointed out before, I'm a bit of an over achiever.) I'm so relieved to be done with the OT. As I mentioned a time or two, I did not enjoy it. Sure, there are a lots of genealogies, endless measurements using cubits and shekels, and the constant referring to of women as either prostitutes or quarrelsome wives, but I could get past all that.
The bigger issue for me was the picture of God that we get in the Old Testament. Why do some people get grace and others don't? What can the average person do to ensure that he or she is chosen, favored, saved or even tolerated by God? I've written about specific examples before and I'm not going to rehash that, but the point is, reading the Old Testament has challenged my faith.
When I started this endeavor, I didn't think it would change my life much in any way. If it did somehow change something, I assumed it would make my faith grow, become stronger. I did not anticipate the anger and disappointment I experienced when I really learned, as Paul Harvey would say, "the rest of the story." And with that anger and disappointment comes guilt. I feel guilty about being disrespectful to God. It seems blasphemous.
But here's the deal: apparently challenging your faith can be a good thing. Examining what you believe and why can apparently make your faith stronger in the end. A wise person recently put it in terms I could understand. She said "If you keep running the same distance and the same pace, you're never going run any farther or faster. If you challenge yourself, it'll suck for a while. It will hurt. But you'll be stronger and faster in the long run."
Ok. I get it. But that doesn't mean I'm not still hoping the "good stuff" is coming in the New Testament.
The bigger issue for me was the picture of God that we get in the Old Testament. Why do some people get grace and others don't? What can the average person do to ensure that he or she is chosen, favored, saved or even tolerated by God? I've written about specific examples before and I'm not going to rehash that, but the point is, reading the Old Testament has challenged my faith.
When I started this endeavor, I didn't think it would change my life much in any way. If it did somehow change something, I assumed it would make my faith grow, become stronger. I did not anticipate the anger and disappointment I experienced when I really learned, as Paul Harvey would say, "the rest of the story." And with that anger and disappointment comes guilt. I feel guilty about being disrespectful to God. It seems blasphemous.
But here's the deal: apparently challenging your faith can be a good thing. Examining what you believe and why can apparently make your faith stronger in the end. A wise person recently put it in terms I could understand. She said "If you keep running the same distance and the same pace, you're never going run any farther or faster. If you challenge yourself, it'll suck for a while. It will hurt. But you'll be stronger and faster in the long run."
Ok. I get it. But that doesn't mean I'm not still hoping the "good stuff" is coming in the New Testament.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Being a Prophet is Thankless Work
I'm starting to feel like I'm back in graduate school. There's always "homework" hanging over my head these days. Every day, I have to plan my day around when I can get my 12 pages of reading done. If I know I have plans after work, I try to read over lunch. If I know I have lunch plans, I get up early and read before work. That blows, by the way. I am so not a morning person - but I digress. The really fun days are those in which something happens I hadn't prepared for in advance and I have to scramble to find a suitable reading time replacement. And I only have my own schedule to arrange. I can't imagine how people with small children are doing this, but I give them props.
Though I complain from time to time about getting all this reading done in a short span of time, I can at least thank my lucky stars that I am not a prophet. Those poor dudes had it rough. I didn't even know there was a section of the Bible devoted to prophets but I've spent the last 180 or so pages reading about them (and still have more to go) and have learned a couple things about being a prophet:
1) They have a lot of scary-ass visions. It'd be enough to make me not want to sleep again for the rest of my natural life.
2) The messages they communicated with the people fell on deaf ears.
Every.
Time.
It's amazing they had the tenacity to keep trying to reach these "stiff necked" people. You gotta give 'em credit for trying.
3) When someone really doesn't want to hear their message, they should be afraid. Very afraid. Prophesying the truth landed them in jail and sometimes worse. Turns out, if you're the king and you don't like what the prophet says, you just kill the messenger. Literally.
In a recent sermon, Pastor Becca said that the prophets are sometimes described as the manic, the depressive and the chaotic. I'd not really realized it at the time (my mind tended to wander a bit during the prophets) but that's a pretty good description. Isaiah was very, um, high energy. Jeremiah was very "woe is me, woe is you, woe are we." And I think Ezekiel was in need of some lithium. The one thing they all had in common, though, was their purpose. God chose them to try to reach God's people - to tell them to stop screwing up or they were going to be screwed. Well, I think we all know what happened.
And then there's Daniel. I like Daniel. He too has scary-ass visions but he seems different from the previous 3 guys. I don't know why. Daniel seems like a good guy. His faith never wavered and so far he hasn't killed the husband of a woman he slept with so already I like him much better than David. In any event, I can tell that we're definitely building up to something by this point in the Bible. I'm ready for it.
I'm ready to start reading about the God I know.
Though I complain from time to time about getting all this reading done in a short span of time, I can at least thank my lucky stars that I am not a prophet. Those poor dudes had it rough. I didn't even know there was a section of the Bible devoted to prophets but I've spent the last 180 or so pages reading about them (and still have more to go) and have learned a couple things about being a prophet:
1) They have a lot of scary-ass visions. It'd be enough to make me not want to sleep again for the rest of my natural life.
2) The messages they communicated with the people fell on deaf ears.
Every.
Time.
It's amazing they had the tenacity to keep trying to reach these "stiff necked" people. You gotta give 'em credit for trying.
3) When someone really doesn't want to hear their message, they should be afraid. Very afraid. Prophesying the truth landed them in jail and sometimes worse. Turns out, if you're the king and you don't like what the prophet says, you just kill the messenger. Literally.
In a recent sermon, Pastor Becca said that the prophets are sometimes described as the manic, the depressive and the chaotic. I'd not really realized it at the time (my mind tended to wander a bit during the prophets) but that's a pretty good description. Isaiah was very, um, high energy. Jeremiah was very "woe is me, woe is you, woe are we." And I think Ezekiel was in need of some lithium. The one thing they all had in common, though, was their purpose. God chose them to try to reach God's people - to tell them to stop screwing up or they were going to be screwed. Well, I think we all know what happened.
And then there's Daniel. I like Daniel. He too has scary-ass visions but he seems different from the previous 3 guys. I don't know why. Daniel seems like a good guy. His faith never wavered and so far he hasn't killed the husband of a woman he slept with so already I like him much better than David. In any event, I can tell that we're definitely building up to something by this point in the Bible. I'm ready for it.
I'm ready to start reading about the God I know.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
The Original Nagging Wife
Seeing as how I was not unduly impressed with Psalms (blasphemy!), I was ready to move on. I'd never really thought about Proverbs much. Now I know why. This book seems to be basically a list of advice, except very little of it makes sense today. I'm sure these proverbs were wise words of wisdom that meant a lot to people 2000 or so years ago, but frankly, I didn't get the gist most of the time. That's not to say there weren't some proverbs that I took note of, marked and thought I might go back to later.
Proverbs 14:13 "Even in laughter the heart may ache..."
Proverbs 16:31 "Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life."
Proverbs 27:19 "As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man."
Some were just funny...
Proverbs 25:17 "Seldom set foot in your neighbor's house - too much of you, and he will hate you."
But the thing I remember most is how much attention is given to the nagging wife. I thought the idea of the nagging wife was invented by the modern comedian - the type who's bread and butter was "Take my wife...please!" Turns out though, even in the Bible the wife gets a bad rap.
Proverbs 18:13 "A foolish son is his father's ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping."
Proverbs 21:19 "Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife."
Proverbs 25:24 "Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife."
Proverbs 27:15 "A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping on a rainy day; restraining her is like restraining the wind and grasping oil with the hand."
Really? I have some news for the husbands back in the day. I'm sure sharing a life with a long-bearded, wine-drinking, sheep-smelling guy like you isn't all roses either. But telling you that would most definitely make me a quarrelsome wife.
So long story...really long story...short, reading Proverbs beginning to end was not exactly riveting reading. (Oddly enough, some times it seemed like I was reading Benjamins Franklin's writing on virtues.) But when I go back and look through the book again though, I do find some hidden gems.
I guess when you're so ferociously focused on an end goal (reading the entire Bible in 90 days) you risk missing out on the experience.
Proverbs 14:13 "Even in laughter the heart may ache..."
Proverbs 16:31 "Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life."
Proverbs 27:19 "As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man."
Some were just funny...
Proverbs 25:17 "Seldom set foot in your neighbor's house - too much of you, and he will hate you."
But the thing I remember most is how much attention is given to the nagging wife. I thought the idea of the nagging wife was invented by the modern comedian - the type who's bread and butter was "Take my wife...please!" Turns out though, even in the Bible the wife gets a bad rap.
Proverbs 18:13 "A foolish son is his father's ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping."
Proverbs 21:19 "Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife."
Proverbs 25:24 "Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife."
Proverbs 27:15 "A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping on a rainy day; restraining her is like restraining the wind and grasping oil with the hand."
Really? I have some news for the husbands back in the day. I'm sure sharing a life with a long-bearded, wine-drinking, sheep-smelling guy like you isn't all roses either. But telling you that would most definitely make me a quarrelsome wife.
So long story...really long story...short, reading Proverbs beginning to end was not exactly riveting reading. (Oddly enough, some times it seemed like I was reading Benjamins Franklin's writing on virtues.) But when I go back and look through the book again though, I do find some hidden gems.
I guess when you're so ferociously focused on an end goal (reading the entire Bible in 90 days) you risk missing out on the experience.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)