GREETINGS HOLY PEOPLE OF GOD,
Happy Church New Year! We begin a new liturgical year. This year Advent began with the Gospel of Mark in the 13th chapter. We begin by looking back. This Sunday, we look at the first chapter of Mark, which has us looking back even further to the Old Testament prophets, Isaiah and Elijah. As you haul out your Christmas decorations and prepare for Jesus’ birthday, we haul out some of our favorite old time characters from the bible, especially that locust eating, camel coat wearing John the baptizer who so faithful points us to God and why we need God to come to us. We do all of this to prepare ourselves, reminding us of our deep desire and love for God.
If you are struggling to tap into that deep desire for God, check out The Bible Project’s video on the Song of Songs, aka Song of Solomon. Although it’s hard to imagine that Solomon would have written a book about lovers chasing after each other because the characters in the Song of Songs are so devoted to each other and Solomon had so many relationships, devoted to none. It is a book of poetry and intense desires.
As you make meaning out of the events of the world, check out the Bible Project’s video series on Wisdom where they take the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Job and hang them on the wall like portraits with Proverbs representing lady wisdom, Ecclesiastes representing the critic and Job representing the old man. Wisdom and meaning for life are complicated and complex. Looking at these books together gives a perspective on finding meaning and developing your philosophy of evil and what a good life looks like in the midst of random events. After viewing the videos you may also try reading the actual books.
I love how the numbers run just in terms of chapters of these books. Proverbs, those little bites size pieces of wisdom, give us 31 chapters, one chapter for each day of the month. Ecclesiastes, the critic is 12 chapters, one chapter for each month of the year because it’s a hard book to read. And the old man, Job is 42 chapters, so sip it like a fine scotch when you have the time to be reflective and can sit in a recliner and mull it over.
Or if you are curious about how the bible was put together or its literary styles, this is the place to go to get a quick summary and overview and who knows where the Holy Spirit will take you. They have 19 videos on how to read the bible. Did you know that in rough estimations that 43% of the Bible is narrative (historical and parables), 33% is poetry and 24% is prose discourse including laws, sermons, letters and even one essay.
The Bible Project is one of my favorite resources. I love their videos and use them in Confirmation class. I listen to their podcasts because I love to hear others talk about the Bible. During Advent you may want to check out their word studies, The Advent Series focusing on hope, peace, joy and love.
Look back to some of your old favorites in the Bible with a new resource to open it up and trust that the Holy Spirit is with you guiding you in this process. God loves you and wants you to work with Him in this kingdom work we have been called into.
Bold Inquisitive Belief Loving Expansively,
Pastor Connie Spitzack
