The Bible contains
the word of God.
What we must try
to do, as sacred keepers
of this word, is keep
our interpretations of it
from losing that word.
We must also keep
ourselves from believing
that our static interpretations
have become that word.
History is replete
with the debris
of such religious hubris.
Let us neither fill the air and
decorate the public square,
with the symbols and
monuments of our faith,
nor make the demand
that all the world,
including those whose faith
is other or not at all,
live by our rules and ours
alone.
No, let us instead,
saturate the world and
cover our society
with deeds of love
and words of hope.
For then, not by demanding
our faith be accepted by others,
but by graciously demonstrating
it,
will it be a gift worth opening.
© 2015 Todd Jenkins
I sat on the kitchen floor with a little boy who was having some issues. Partly tired, partly bathroom related, and partly because he doesn't want to do what he doesn't want to do until he wants to do it. (Dear God, how I relate.) I was feeling impatient and wanted to just "make" him "do" what I thought he needed to "do." But instead I sat there (he stood) and we held hands. I said nothing, I was simply present. He looked into my eyes, deeply it seemed, though he isn't yet three. And it all felt holy. I thought about how it's MY impatience that demands. And I didn't know this with my own children. I barely know it . with this grandson. But, I'll tell ya, this post of yours was spot on. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI mostly preach to the choir, and sometimes I even sing back to myself.
Delete