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Sometimes the Bible appears to be inconsistent, because there are many voices and perspectives, each with their own culture and backgrounds.For example, Genesis 1 and 2 are inconsistent, but they are written by different schools of thought at different times. One is a spiritual view of creation, and the other a more materialistic teaching. It is hard to sometimes translate spiritual vision into human language, and inconsistencies do appear, along with overlapping cultural teachings, but the overall thread to me, is of man’s redemption and the infinite possibilities open to us all.
I also see boundless opportunities for learning within its pages. All the various personality traits and emotions of mankind are there – jealousy, greed, revenge, anger, fear and so on. Not one of us can say we have never felt any of these emotions, and sometimes acted upon them. However, there is a wonderful thread of spirituality that runs through its pages that lifts us above the weaknesses of the human personality and emotions, and shows us the divine character mirrored in man. It is the very humanity of the Bible, coupled with a deep spirituality, that gives its pages the greatest strength, because when embraced by divinity, even the most awful of us can find redemption, forgiveness and healing. People’s perspectives and mistakes are written about with honesty and unvarnished frankness throughout. The bible also shows those who, even though they may do great things, also make great and terrible mistakes. It teaches forgiveness, patience and the price of not learning life’s lessons well.
It is Jesus’ healing and teaching that fascinate me the most, and from which I learn the most, because they show me that there is much more to this human existence than we think, and because I too have experienced healings.
I don’t pretend to be a Bible scholar, but I love the Bible, (particularly the King James version), for its poetry, simplicity and drama. It urges me to look up words I do not know, challenges me to think in fresh directions and from new perspectives. The Bible is central to my spiritual healing practice as a Christian Scientist, together with Mary Baker Eddy’s seminal work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, which explains and teaches me more of the healing message of the Bible.
Try it sometime.
Four hundred years ago a book was published in England by decree of James Stuart – better known as King James the First. It was not particularly popular or well-liked at the time, but it went on to become the most well-read book of the English- speaking world.
The “King James Bible” was born in 1611 against the backdrop of Elizabethan England, when the English language itself was coming into full flower. Shakespeare was writing and producing his most potent plays – King Lear, Othello and The Tempest. Society was wrestling with questions of religious freedom, universal rights, liberty of conscience and individual will, the very issues that would bring it into civil war a short time later.
The printing press had been invented by Gutenberg about 140 years earlier, initiating what might be called the first ‘social media’ revolution. In those days, new technologies took centuries to become mainstream. However by the 1600s, ordinary people were becoming able to read and get copies of books. Now having access to the ideas of others, they began to question established thinking and share their own thoughts and opinions with others – both processes being the real seeds of change.
However, one book remained largely off-limits. Still mostly in Latin or Greek, most Bibles were huge volumes in Latin, in the hands of the clergy. Some English translations, such as the Gutenberg, Wycliffe and Puritans’ Geneva Bible, had become more widely available. But if anything, these translations brought further strife and argument, and in fact there was even a law forbidding the Bible being translated into English. And still the average household still didn’t have a copy.
At the time, England was being unified with Scotland under one king. Raised in the brutal and clannish divisions of Scottish politics, James Stuart knew the costs of hatred and war. A controversial figure with a less than pure lifestyle (much like the historic figures of Biblical times), James had many flaws and faults. But despite them, he also firmly believed in the possibility of universal peace and unity.
King James’ overwhelming desire was to bring the many factions of his fractious, religiously-divided country together in unity. And as one step towards that end, he decided to create a new Bible, taken from the original Greek and Hebrew texts as well as other translations. It was to be one book that would be available to all, so that everyone could read from the same text. It should be available for all to read – openly, in their churches and homes.
In retrospect, it was a great feat that this translation happened at all. While the very concepts of humanity and its relationship to divinity were being hammered out, word by word, forces were marshaled against it. There were political agendas, fierce disagreements; even a terrorist plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament, all the drama of any modern-day story, and every bit as dramatic as Biblical events themselves.
In his book, God’s Secretaries, historian Adam Nicholson writes, “England was more godly and less godly than it had ever been.” He goes on to say that the King’s personal motto came from two words in the Sermon on the Mount: “Beati Pacifici,” or ‘blessed are the peacemakers.’ “The Bible that is named after James,” he says, “and whose translation was authorized by him, was central to his claim of that ideal.” (Nicholson’s book is a wonderful and well-researched read, and one that I’ve drawn on liberally for this writing.)
Whatever one thinks of the Bible, this was a version that changed history. No other translation brought such uniformity and universality to the English-speaking world than did the King James Version, and none became so universally accepted. The book has remained a central part of English Protestant faith including mine. It was the translation read at Prince William’s wedding to Catherine Middleton three weeks ago. It’s a book that has traveled across the globe to its remotest regions. It has inspired, healed and helped millions of its readers, and has survived 400 years of questions, challenges and criticism. That alone is something worth thinking about.
We take for granted our right to freedom of expression, the printed word being easily available, the right to speak our minds and to worship as we please. But we can perhaps remember that the right to do so was first fought and won through the struggle to have one book published freely in the language of its own country and read by every man. That book was The English Bible. The King James version was the both the first and the final episode of that struggle. In some countries, those rights are still being fought for.
Interesting Links
http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Secretaries-Making-James-Bible/dp/0060185163
http://www.marybakereddylibrary.org/exhibits/KJV
In an age of cynicism and criticism, where failure is expected, and society waits hoping for better days, a young couple make their commitment to each other in the most public manner possible. In front of roughly 2 billion people around the world. But what of the institution of marriage? Is it relevant today? Do we need it? Many feel that we don’t. Yet here is a young couple, who are really stating their confidence in each other, and committing to their promises, and making a stand for the institution of marriage. This takes great courage, and they are a living example of what courage means in a world so ready to expect failure.
Love is an overused word, usually referring to some emotional state that is fleeting and transitory. But what if we saw love as something much deeper than how another person “makes you feel”? What if there was a spiritual basis for love.
Mary Baker Eddy explores the concept of marriage and the spiritual nature of love for an entire chapter in her seminal work, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.” She was no stranger to the difficulties, challenges and sadnesses that happen after the “I do” has been said. She was widowed at an early age, whilst carrying her first born son. Later, her second marriage ended in divorce after her husband left her for another woman. She married for the third time, and was again widowed after not too many years. Yet, she firmly believed in the institution of marriage and devoted time and energy to write about it.
I invite you to explore Mrs. Eddy’s chapter on marriage. You can find it online at
http://www.spirituality.com/science-and-health/index.jhtml
You can explore it, and maybe buy a copy. It is fresh and relevant to all of the problems that we face today.
Let us all spend a moment to bless this young couple in their courageous stand for a rowing and truer sense of love.
For more commentary on this you can also read this interesting article by Archbishop John Sentamu. here
What do Mary Baker Eddy and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones have in common? Only Amazon.com and Steven Saum know. Here is a delightful little piece that brought a smile to my face.
http://www.kqed.org/a/perspectives/R201104260735
I cannot imagine what it must be like to be in an earthquake such as just hit Japan. I cannot imagine the pain of knowing your loved ones were swept away in a tsunami of unimaginable proportions, but what I am able to do is feel tremendous empathy and compassion as I watch the unfolding drama from video clips, and see if there is, in some small way, something I can do to help.
The Bible says “There is a spirit in man; and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.”
One way I see that spirit of understanding operating is in the outpouring of love and support from one human being to another in times such as these, sometimes across continents and oceans, from city to city and door to door.
We understand in some deep way, their great need. Wherever a disaster hits, you will find people who are strangers to one another, helping, reaching out to one another, sometimes performing heroic feats to save a life that may otherwise have been doomed.
Whilst the tragedy unfolding before our very eyes seems to be of enormous magnitude, let us not forget that already there are people volunteering their time, money and sacrificing their safety to help others.
It always humbles and inspires me to see this and recognize that spirit of love in all mankind.
Let us not waste time questioning and discussing the reason for these heart-rending events, or make ponderous arguments about it all. Let us join together, regardless of race, creed or class, and recognize that spirit of man within in each of us, and help our neighbor as we should – wherever and whatever the need is. It may be, as in my case both practical and full of loving prayers, or it may be in another way, but it behoves us all to reach out to those in need.
Isn’t it interesting that after Christmas come the New Year resolutions. The most obvious one that I hear a lot is to lose weight. The fitness classes are all full for the first few weeks after Christmas, the diet companies are awash with registrants with good intentions, and then everyone starts to trail off. The classes begin to empty and the diet companies begin to lose numbers.
This is the season of Lent. The season of giving up. When I was a child growing up in an Anglican school, we all gave up chocolate or some favorite food for Lent. A lot of other religious traditions also have fasting as part of their tradition. I think it is very interesting to be able to demonstrate control over the most basic of human needs – food, and in today’s western consumer society, it is all the more vital that we discover the importance of self control.
As a Christian Scientist, I don’t observe Lent or Ash Wednesday as a religious tradition, but the practice of my faith does encourage me to daily make individual, thoughtful choices about the decisions I make, and the kinds of human traits I need to give up in order to grow – both spiritually and humanly. One could call them on going daily resolutions, This is not always easy, but as my last article on the practice of gentleness illustrates, it is not just about giving up, but embracing.
Guilt is not a part of this journey of giving up - in fact, self-condemnation acts as a road block to a healthy view of what needs to be sacrificed. There was a time when I was extremely self critical of myself, and it was also a time when I was rather struggling with weight as well, and the two things seemed to go hand in hand. Then I read a very interesting article that said “No one ever thrives under the regime of a tyrant.” Wow – that got me thinking – the self condemnation was a tyrant – always demanding impossible achievements that I could not attain, and then plunging me yet again into another round of self criticism. There was nothing in my practice of Christian Science that was causing this. Rather, it was my growth in the practice of my faith that caused me to see this self-condemnation as a tyrant that could be overthrown with the daily practice of spiritual love. This is the embracing part.
In this case, what I sacrificed was not the food – but the self hatred. The desire to eat then left of itself. I lost the weight naturally.
The lesson from this is that we can go deeper in our efforts to give up something. To have just tried to go on a diet would not have met my deeper need to give up self-condemnation. That is what I sacrificed.. It was a worthy sacrifice in which nothing was lost, but much was gained.
Throughout history there have been many luminaries, and not a few have also been religious leaders. As a Christian Scientist, I have found the teachings and healing works of Christ Jesus to be intensely inspiring. And building upon that led me to a woman called Mary Baker Eddy, who in the 19th century dared to speak and write about religious theology, and founded a church with a mission to heal through spiritual means.
Inspiring By Example
Mary Baker Eddy inspires me because she too knew the deepest despairs – chronic ill health, the loneliness of homelessness, the grief of widowhood, the crushing pain of having a child taken from her, and relentless poverty. Yet this woman never gave up in her search for healing and helping others. Wanting more than anything to learn to heal as Christ Jesus did, she sacrificed everything for it.
She absolutely refused to be a victim. She also refused to be a “survivor.” She wanted to learn to triumph over the burdens that drag humanity down. And she did. She healed many, taught others to heal through her study of The Bible, and wrote her seminal book on healing, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures”, even while she had no formal education past the age of twelve. She not only founded a church that’s now a world-wide religion, but in her eighties she founded an international newspaper, The Christian Science Monitor, with the object to ”injure no man but to bless all mankind.”
This is the kind of spirituality which, blended with compassion and humanity, inspires me to heal also, because despite my mistakes, flaws and life challenges, there is so much more possible for all mankind. Her story, achievements and example show me that I too can make a difference.
There are so many women and men like her – those who dare to break boundaries, rise above their difficulties in order to nurture the world in some way, and carve out a fresh way for future generations to see themselves and others.
We all have our heroes, those people who truly inspire us. And she is one of mine.
To find out more about Mary Baker Eddy you can check out The Mary Baker Eddy Library at http://www.marybakereddylibrary.org
The Practice of Gentleness
As I write this, I have a four-foot deep, mud-filled trench at the back of my house, the contractor is banging loudly as he finishes the siding, and my electricity panel looks like a hedgehog with loads of wires sticking out into fresh air. Needless to say, we’ve had no power all day. And tomorrow the drills will arrive to dig up the concrete in our front patio. If this sounds like one of those home reno movies we all laugh at – it is.
I should have guessed about the level of frustration that goes with renovating when we went to our City offices for a building permit. There, the sign on the desk read “Offensive and abusive language is unacceptable in this office.” The official told us about the anger, threats and insults she has received. And after being sent running for yet one more approval, I could see why. It was tempting to give in to frustration and upset. But instead I said, “We just really want to work with you on this project.” She appreciated that. And this one comment took our relationship in a different, more peaceful, direction.
Some situations in life – like renos – provoke the ‘worst’ in us: frustration, rage, and fear. We’ve all experienced them. But it’s more than that. We have become a society of intolerance, rash judgment and ready insults; where rudeness and criticism are thrown around regardless of who they hurt. And where we react to life’s challenges in ways that are often unkind, even dangerous.
Not Just “Nice Ideas”
Over the past nine months, this small reno project became (for me) a microcosm of how the human mind works when faced with decisions and challenges. Every day there were opportunities to react. Yet early on we asked ourselves: What kind of thoughts and emotions do we want built into our walls and home? What memories do we wish to live with in this home? And how we reacted became a conscious choice.
I’m particularly grateful to what I’ve learned in Christian Science for this, because what matters there is how I practice my faith, not just the beliefs I hold. For me, that is what my religion is: a practice where I make choices every moment about how to deal with daily life – and renovations!
Here briefly is what I discovered about the practice of gentleness, even when I did not start out feeling that way:
1. Being respectful, kind or understanding are more than just ‘nice ideas.’ They take work, and discipline of mind, heart and tongue; deliberate choices to be civil and caring when things get rough. Following Christ Jesus’ example was often a great inspiration.
2. What mattered more to me than being “right,” or airing some frustration I felt, was feeling centred and finding peace within at the end of each day.
3. Gentleness is a great ‘defense’ against reacting in difficult situations. Being gentle with myself stopped my own self-condemnation in its tracks. It also stopped conversations from becoming abusive and critical – and turned me towards thinking about what I could do for others (like baking pies for the guys who worked on my house).
4. Being “gentle” doesn’t mean one can’t be firm or stand for what is right. In fact, it helped me to stay centred and make better decisions.
5. Even when I did get angry at times, it allowed me to pull back, re-center and begin again – with forgiveness for all (including myself) as my intention, and practice.
In the big scheme of things, with terrible tragedies, oppressions and sadness facing people around the world, renos are pretty small potatoes. But what they are is a testing ground, a place to hone our skills.
Finding calm and gentleness in the midst of human life is definitely a challenge. Yet how can we expect others to control their emotions, if we ourselves have not yet learned to do so in the small things of life? Perhaps we need to ask ourselves a similar kind of question every day: What kind of world do I want to build, create or live in? Because it’s not going to happen without a choice; and it definitely won’t come without practice.
The ways we react each day become a part of the way “the world” reacts. And what I learned from my renovations was that graciousness, kindness, patience, and gentleness must begin with me.
One of the things surrounding the debate about religion and spirituality that is most troubling perhaps, is the entrenched positions that are often taken in the discussion about the subject. Atheists are aggressively taken to task by the religious, while some atheists are less than respectful when actively deriding religion. Religions are often themselves caught in opposing camps as to who is right or wrong.
For those caught in the middle of these extreme positions, there is the added problem of systemic religious mistakes, thoughtless and hurtful comments, and a general confusion as to what exactly is being said. How can any of this help humanity at a time when we all need to be working together as never before in the history of our world.?
I rather liken this problem to a group of people discussing a tree. Imagine an artist, a arborist, a herbalist, and a naturalist all standing around that tree. They would all have completely differing viewpoints, yet it would be interesting to see if the discussion that ensued would be so entrenched with personal, and sometimes offensive rhetoric as we see in any discussion about religion. Even a group of artists would portray the tee differently in their work. It depends on where you stand, how you see, and express your thoughts.
We are all looking at life from different perspectives, and whatever enriches and enlarges that sense of life, spurs us to look deeper and more questioningly, would be listening to others perspectives with interest and humility.
In this super charged atmosphere in which we currently live, where incivility stands as an inherent right, and impatience, fear and aggression all jostle in out minds for a place, making the world a more dangerous environment wherein to live; learning these qualities by whatever means possible is definitely a goal for us to achieve. The question is - how do we do that in a practical way in our community?
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How do some individuals rise above being victims and, through their courage, persistence or desire to do the ‘impossible,’ and serve as influential role models for us all?
What part do spirituality and religion play in this? Can religious and spiritual individuals be an inspiration today? I have read many comments on this blog from those who see religion as constraining, controlling and negatively influential. And I have to agree; sometimes it is used that way. Yet at the same time there’s no denying that some wonderfully inspiring people are also religious leaders.
I am thinking of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama, to mention just two of the more widely known ones today. Both have inspired many to think and act more consciously and expansively. One wonders where South Africa would be today without the Christianity and vision of Desmond Tutu, or whether we would be poorer but for the infectious laughter and wisdom of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Throughout history there have been many luminaries, and not a few have also been religious leaders. As a Christian Scientist, I have found the teachings and healing works of Christ Jesus to be intensely inspiring. And building upon that led me to a woman called Mary Baker Eddy, who in the 19th century dared to speak and write about religious theology, and founded a church with a mission to heal through spiritual means.
Inspiring By Example
Mary Baker Eddy inspires me because she too knew the deepest despairs – chronic ill health, the loneliness of homelessness, the grief of widowhood, the crushing pain of having a child taken from her, and relentless poverty. Yet this woman never gave up in her search for healing and helping others. Wanting more than anything to learn to heal as Christ Jesus did, she sacrificed everything for it.
She absolutely refused to be a victim. She also refused to be a “survivor.” She wanted to learn to triumph over the burdens that drag humanity down. And she did. She healed many, taught others to heal through her study of The Bible, and wrote her seminal book on healing, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures”, even while she had no formal education past the age of twelve. She not only founded a church that’s now a world-wide religion, but in her eighties she founded an international newspaper, The Christian Science Monitor, with the object to ”injure no man but to bless all mankind.”
This is the kind of spirituality which, blended with compassion and humanity, inspires me to heal also, because despite my mistakes, flaws and life challenges, there is so much more possible for all mankind. Her story, achievements and example show me that I too can make a difference.
There are so many women and men like her – those who dare to break boundaries, rise above their difficulties in order to nurture the world in some way, and carve out a fresh way for future generations to see themselves and others.
We all have our heroes, those people who truly inspire us. And she is one of mine.