Up Periscope

The Bible is a most unusual book, that ,by its’ own claim, was written by God Himself through the hands of men.  Similarly, by its’ own claim, the words contained in the Bible can be used to bring life, or misused to bring death.  Here is the trap.

We purchase a new gadget, machine, or assembly-required product, and we all know that somewhere in the box is a set of instructions.  Depending on who we are, this piece of paper can be a rigid step-by-step guide, a set of possible suggestions, or one more scrap of paper to leave for someone else to pick up.  So from these varying persepectives, we approach the Bible.  God has included instructions with this life He has given us, and we bring our personality and opinions to bear on our reading.  What if that is the least helpful way to approach the Bible?

I remember reading “The Lords of Discipline” by Pat Conroy, as a senior in High School.  As I read, my mother asked me why I was suddenly becoming so sarcastic.    The main character was a cynical athlete, always quick with the cutting comeback.  He looked at life as if it were there to serve him.  Without realizing it, I was beginning to see the world through the eyes of this character.  I had begun to think like the author.

What if learning the information in the Bible, studying it’s implications and applying our, will, our personalitites and our desires to what we understand is a lower level of reading scripture.  What if we read it for the purpose of trying to see and think like the author?  What if the things we read do not just build up the content of our minds, rather, the way the author views things informs our view of the world, the nature of reality, and our perspective on people.

Several significant  shifts would have take place.  The Bible views reality as both a material and spiritual fabric.  We would have to open our understanding to a dimension that is less concrete, and less measurable, than the one we engage with our five senses.

What if the Bible could be viewed as a periscope, or night-vision goggles,instead of an instruction manual.  It is a tool which allows us to look into things unseen, and…see.

What if the Bible could be viewed as a Walkie-Talkie, and not just a rule-book?  It is a mode of communicating that allows us to hear new things in real time, from a Source who wrote to us long ago.

What if instead of seeing the Bible as a book of instructions we saw it instead as a doorway.  A portal through which we can move from one place to another, or at least inhabit two realms at the same time.

What if , while we try to learn what the Bible says, we also try to see and think the way the Author does?  It would change your mind.