UNITY IS SIMPLE, IF CHALLENGING

2019-02-15
Path/Process
Read the Bible out loud and together.  It is like a miracle, or supernatural.

It's taken years to grow in our understanding of Scripture: but how did we get where we are?  We have read the Bible together, Eric and I, out loud, together for forty-five years.
We started in the beginning, on our honeymoon.  We sat in a shady slope by a river in North Carolina as we began a tradition.  We stopped the car, both got out and sat in the shade.  We each had a Bible, and each read a chapter in turn, aloud.  It was beautiful, we were happy.  We continued that tradition as we reared three sons (except now we had more readers).

Eric is now retired, the kids are gone, my part time volunteering and jobs in the past.  We never stopped the tradition.

We look forward to it more than ever.  We've created habits that give me reason to get up every morning:  We get up and make the coffee; we sit on the porch and sometimes chat, sometimes Eric journals.  It's a connection that we cherish.  Then we go inside and read the Bible (aloud) together, then breakfast.   After that he is to the computer or woodworking.  I am to my day.

When our sons were home, we used to read the Bible after dinner; it was about half an hour each day.

Today, as we read in the Book of Luke, it became clearer that the Scribes and Pharisees were hypocrites.   It became brilliantly clear that Pilate was right when he knew "that for envy" the Elders, Scribes and Pharisees delivered up Jesus to be crucified.   More and more as we read and discuss  (two of Luke's long chapters this morning) things resonate, go deeper, become clearer.   It's most every day now that something is more real and understandable than ever.

One of us may have a thought to clarifies the text, the other might add to it.  What happens then?  Something new comes to the surface that never would have otherwise if we were alone, reading silently.   Together both of us are mulling a third thought.

What is happening?  The Bible is going to my head, his head, into my heart and soul, into his heart and soul,  More and more, like a supernatural fix, we think alike: unity is nearer.

Don't you think God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are interested in this practice, this journey, this habit.  I think so.  Yes, Scripture teaches love, unity, humility.  You might just be brought to your senses quickly if you dare to become proud.  "For the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing apart of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."  (Hebrews 4:12)

I highly recommend this habit.
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