During an April, 2002 visit to the Strand book store in New York City, I bought Walking the Bible, by Bruce Feiler. I had heard that it was good, and I thought I should buy it, because I should read it. (The bonus was that the book was on one of the countless
remainders tables that makes the Strand unique! So it cost only about five bucks.)
After I got home, the book sat on the shelf for a while. One time, I opened the book and began to read it. By about page 50 I was bored! I realized I was only reading it because I felt I should! So, I put it back on the shelf. Where it sat. For years. In fact, nearly eight years later, I thought about it again, before I went to Israel in January: I should read that book, shouldn’t I?
Well, here’s what’s happened in the past couple of days. I’ve opened the book again — and now I can hardly put it down. It’s fascinating. It’s full of life-changing insights. (OK, I may be exaggerating a little bit there.) Here’s the point: the time is right for me to be reading this book. The time wasn’t right before. In this case, I had to see the geography that Feiler writes about. That experience was necessary, to open me to his insights.
That’s why I like to buy books, and keep them on the shelf, rather than to borrow them for a short time from the library. This has happened to me a number of times before, with a book that has been staring at me for years. For some reason, now is the time to read it. Something has changed. The words in the book have obviously stayed the same. What has changed is me, because of my experiences! A writer tells a story to communicate truth. But the reader needs to be in theright place on his/her journey to be able to receive the truth.
In the same way, God the Holy Spirit speaks to me through the short passages of Scripture that are appointed in the daily lectionary. By this point in my life, I have read the passages many times. They haven’t changed. But the Spirit is changing me all the time! And so something jumps out at me this time through the passage. It might not have meant anything to me yesterday. (It might not seem important tomorrow, either.) But today, there’s something there. Why does that catch my attention? There’s the topic for prayer on this day.
Those in the congregation of St. Stephen have heard me talk about “praying the Bible.” That’s what I mean.
