Personalized Scripture

Copyright 2015 Don Ray

I think back on this week’s Lectionary study group meeting.

It is evident that the study of scripture is not to ferret out absolute, unequivocal meaning from verses and chapters.

Were it only that simple, by now all the meaning would have been long ago squeezed out and the vintage distilled from the fruit of the scripture, and we would simply have to choose from among a variety of expert opinions, seeking that which best fits our preconceived notions.

We could skip the tedium of reading the scripture ourselves and scratching our head and trying to cobble together an interpretation without the benefit of a lifetime of theological study in academic seminary.  If the meaning of verses was singular and specific, we could skip right to the Cliff Notes version and get to the good stuff.

Even if the meaning of verses was plural and ambiguous, we could skip right to the Cliff Notes version to peruse the buffet of possible interpretations, saving ourselves a lot of handwringing and feelings of inadequacy over our lack of degrees and inability to translate from original Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, and Arabic.

But all these centuries after the writing of the scriptures, with all the shelves in all the libraries full of exegesis and explanations, small groups of the faithful still gather to read the scriptural texts for themselves, to wade in and slog through the morass of obscure wording referring to ancient ways of seeing the world. 

And it is a beautiful thing!  What an act of faith!  What a commitment! 

Everyone muddling over the meaning of some line in some verse in some chapter could instead be muddling over their retirement investments, or planning a vacation, or watching a sitcom, or playing with the dog. 

It is a beautiful thing, the faithful gathering in churches and synagogues and mosques and temples and ashrams and homes and bars (as was the case this week) to seek meaning and understanding and lessons in ancient lines translated to modern language, that modern language of course further obscuring original meaning.  These folks are not gathered in order to finally discover the absolute meaning, hidden for however many thousand years, and subsequently publish their findings in peer reviewed journals to bring enlightenment to the masses. 

No, these innumerable little gatherings are intensely personal and spiritually intimate, for such is the holiness of scripture.  It is not the unambiguous interpretation that gives life to scripture.  In fact, the unambiguous interpretation drains the Life from scripture.

It is the intimate, personal interpretation, that interpretation that is intently relevant, that interpretation that is not blandly universal but excitingly applicable for that particular person in that particular moment of their life, that is the living meaning that breathes life into scripture and allows scripture to breathe the Spirit into our lives. 

Scripture alive, scripture energizing, scripture enlightening, that is what is discovered in those little study groups.

A single absolute, unequivocal meaning?.....How impersonal, how small, how un-embracing that would be.

Let the scripture study groups gather in faith to experience discoveries as profound and as “correct” as any professor, priest, or theologian has ever put to paper, discoveries of scriptures’ power to convey the embrace of Loving Source to each individual in each moment of their lives.

If you found this of worth to you, please pass it on.

Copyright 2015 Don Ray