I spent
years, on and off, studying the Bible, trying to understand God, reality and my
life--believing it was all there and that I could piece it together.
Sola scriptura, as it is written.
Then I was
dragged into the Inner Light, where my reliance on rationalism was broken, my
condition(ing) spoken to.
My mind, I
was shown, can make whatever use pleases me of scripture, but no Authority lives
there that can make use of me. It’s
not the Word of God, it’s just words about God, a compilation of notions—speculations,
inferences, reasoning--about It’s nature, character, and plans—things I can
argue about, even believe, but never know or need.
Still, among
those lurking notions, pregnant with opportunities for my mind to mislead me
(and others), I recognize the Light working on the people depicted in the Bible,
as It works in my life, as It works in our lives in our Bible study group.
Could anything
offer a dozen or so Friends from two yearly meetings more opportunity to
disagree and contend with one another than reading the Bible(s) together?
And we do.
Yet, we remain
Friends, and that peculiar love, compassion and reconciliation—the convincement
to which we aspire—matures in us on Monday mornings, turning those pages
together. Gathered into The Life, we
are brought to know, connect, support and encourage one another.
The verses
may illustrate our broken conditions, but it is the Light that moves us through
them, together, toward wholeness.
