What Does This Have to Do with the Bible?

Whenever one comes to anything, one must come with the proper tools to deal with it. For example, when one approaches the matter of being able to read, one must begin with the basic symbols of the language. Since language is usually written and spoken, the sounds connected with those symbols must also be fairly well established.

We have begun right on target. To read the Bible, obviously one must be able to read it in the language it was written in. Oops, big oops, for most folks. Wasn't the Bible originally written in Hebrew, Greek, and a little in some other language? Not to worry. Many have, over a period of centuries, translated the Bible into more languages than just about anything else. Even in English, there are an ever-increasing number of what are called versions to choose from. To start off, pick up the one you are accustomed to using, if any. If you are brand new to the Bible, grab, purchase, or borrow one that has been translated into the language you are most comfortable with.

Wow! When is this guy going to get to something I don't already know?

NOTICE WELL: If you just asked that question, in your head or out loud, the Bible WILL NOT profit you at all in your present condition. "What was that?" you say. If you think you already know everything, or, just as detrimental, anything at all, the Bible will be useless to you.

NOW is when most of you reading this had better sit down. And those already sitting down better clear an escape route before reading further.

The worst news here is for those who have read and studied the Bible enormously and feel like you have done so faithfully. You may belong to Bible-memory clubs, outreaches, or missions. Or you might have exhaustively devoured its words in secret. The horrific news here is that you guys may indeed have the most to UNLEARN.

Look back, now, at the seventeenth word in the previous paragraph: FEEL. For the Bible to be useful to you, you must not only be able to read, you must know HOW to feel. Of course, no other book has word combinations so rich in their seeming ability to cause every possible range of emotions as those found in the Bible. That is why one must come to it with the proper emotional tools as well as reading skills. No, no, no: you must NOT move to Vulcan and learn the ways of the unforce. We are not talking here about suppressing emotions at all. The idea here is to make sure that your emotions are neither suppressing your awareness (inner or outer) nor your ability to effectively function in the world. Principled living begins with a determination to practice the ongoing balancing "act" between suppressing emotions and getting caught up (entangled) in them.

This is actually the introduction to my next post . . .