St. Bartholomew's Church

By nature, I am a reader. A voracious reader. A nearly indiscriminate reader: I read thrillers, mysteries, nonfiction, travel writing, general novels, just about anything. My bedside table is a stack of books, some half read, some nearly finished, some yet to be begun. I read in the car while waiting at a stop light, in the bathroom while I brush my teeth, at the counter while I chop veg for supper. It's my best and worst habit, all wrapped up in one. I'm also a cradle Episcopalian, raised at St. B's and instructed in Sunday School by some of you. Despite my avid reading and my weekly Sunday schooling, I am woefully ill-informed on the Bible, which I think is a general assumption about many Episcopalians anyway. I have a set understanding of certain bible verses & key passages, but by & large, aside from knowing the general location of the books, I'm really just not up on the Bible. In recent years, it hasn't even taken up one of the spaces on my bedside table, either for future or current reading.

That's the background I bring to this week's reading, the discussion on the Bible as God's inspired word, the work of God through and with men. Wright opens the chapter with a vision of the Bible as action-adventure groovy storybook: some of the best narratives out there, with flair & thrills in every chapter. Poetry beyond all poetry. Just the kind of thing I would ordinarily find compelling! And then he goes on to talk about how it has all of these great features that most of us never really use. That the Bible is and should be used as a guidebook to life, to helping to create a better place, not "simply to find [our] own way unscathed through the old creation." A guidebook!

My husband and I took our honeymoon to Thailand, a sort of fly-by-night adventure largely unplanned. We went to Bookstar and browsed piles of available books on Thailand before settling on the Frommer's book, written by someone named Jennifer. We took to calling her Jen & talking about consulting with Jen before we set out on daily excursions or decided what town to visit next. Jen was a huge resource and we only felt let down by her twice in 24 days, once on a restaurant recommendation and once when a guest house had apparently closed since the publication of the book.

So, if we could have such a successful experience guided by another human, an imperfect person, and a stranger, why am I so reluctant to let God's inspiration be the inspiration for my own life? I work in the non-profit world and have since I started working. Presumably my day to day life is a clear contribution to making "God's new creation happen in his old world" and presumably I want to do that in the way most in line with God's vision for that new creation. Maybe it's time for me to clear off part of my side table and put that Bible back on it. Time to stop looking at it with dread like "oh, should probably prop up my moral training a bit" and start looking at it with enthusiasm, more along the lines of "How can I manifest God's vision and help bring on his new creation today?"