Within!

If we don’t teach “bible reading” the right way, bibles get thrown away. Mine did. I threw it across the room when I was a teenager as I read, “No evil shall befall you,” of Psalm 91 and “You shall not be burned” of Isaiah 43. I was being hurt by evil! I was being burned!

If you’re getting mauled by evil, burnt by fire, then what in heaven does the bible mean when it has the audacity to teach “no evil shall befall you?!” Might it mean we need to look elsewhere, perhaps within!? Might it mean we need to get in touch with that image of God implanted within? Might it be there that the buds of understanding begin to bloom? Might it be there that evil cannot hurt and fire cannot burn?

“Big deal!” you might say. “What difference does that make when a child is being hurt?” Let me tell you that this inner resource is also where strength, peace, character, and grit get their beginnings. This is where these traits are nurtured, and let’s not forget Who is doing the nurturing!

It wasn’t long before I was noticing those other words of Psalm 91 and Isaiah 43: “You shall not fear the terror of the night” and “When you walk through fire...” The terror is there. The fire is there. But somehow, someway, the effects of these horrible things are NOT. There is a line that no power on earth can cross, and that line exists within the heart and soul of every human being. It is where the image of God resides and remains.

Early on, I was beginning to sense this. I knew something in me was transcending the hurt, the sorrow of my outer world. More on this to come.

Reflection

As you reflect on the suffering you endured or are enduring, what is your experience of transcendence?

Prayer

Dear God, you are within me, and this presence is no powerless thing. Show me how to nurture my awareness of you within me, especially as I take out my bible again and begin to read. Give me the grace to stick with you — and stick with the bible — until meaning dawns. I’ll know it when I am empowered, comforted and lifted. Amen.