Thoughts from Bible Study Today

Today I participated in a wonderful Bible Study group on Proverbs where we commented on the lack of wisdom in our government.  One person responded with Romans 13:1-2 which says: "Obey the government, for God is the One who has put it there. There is no government anywhere that God has not placed in power.  So those who refuse to obey the law of the land are refusing to obey God, and punishment will follow."  I responded I did not believe that God was an entity up above deciding what government should be placed in power even those that are evil.  Another participant agreed with me and cited Bible passages where a follower of God disobeyed the authorities which was cited as godly.  She said, we need to choose God’s law over human law when they differ.  I pointed out if that was true, then the passages in the Bible were contradictory, and that you cannot read one without considering other verses.  Therefore, the Bible cannot be taken literally.  Literal is defined as “taking words in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or allegory and of a translation representing the exact words of the original text.”  We need to read the entire Bible considering a deeper, spiritual meaning inspired by the Holy Spirit.  This is illustrated from our study because we read multiple translations from the Bible during our study, often nuancing or emphasizing a different meaning.  And each of us may draw a different perspective and interpretation during the group reading.

In Proverbs we are counseled to practice wisdom in our choices, because when we or tempted and act from the flesh without love or wisdom, we are drawn into situations we will regret, often spiraling out of control.  Proverbs 7:16-18 “I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.  I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.  Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.”  You can feel the “simple one” drawn emotionally into the sin blind to the eventual outcome. Proverbs 7: 26-27 “For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.”  This situation is an allegory where we can be tempted by many human sins which have physical, emotional and spiritual consequences in our life.   Those consequences include the absence of the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control which makes everything so much better in our lives.  They are the presence of the eternal and God.  

Also, in our Bible Study we discussed the will of God.  I find some Christians in my life attributing individual consequences or outcomes in their life as the will of God or that God choses to permit it because it is part of a larger plan.  This brings to my mind a God that lives above us deciding what happens in everything and that we are not really exercising free will.  But some outcomes are random, the result of biology and our environment, and a consequence of individual and collective choices in the physical plane we are conscious of as humans.  The spiritual does interact with the physical because our existence is both spirit and body - energy (consciousness) and matter.   That is why we must use first use prayer, guidance by the Holy Spirit, and intuition balanced by reason in choosing wisely as humans.  But even when we choose unwisely or suffer consequences outside of our control, God is in the response.   When we act from the spirit or love – the good, spirit, and energy expands our consciousness and the collective consciousness.  And God (love), as the most powerful force in the Universe propels our very being and existence forward and prevails in the eternal.  And I know that the eternal is beyond any comprehension or imagination by humans.    

July 3, 2019 SacredSouls Post – Thoughts on Eternity
Everyone who should be here is here.
Every door opens another possibility.
All is as it should be.
Faith Hope and Love.  The greatest of these is love.

This Fourth of July

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”  Preamble to the Constitution of the United States

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”  Hebrews 10:23.

I just finished mowing the rest of my lawn tonight.  As the days grow hotter with intense humidity, I find it hard to motivate myself to walk daily it is so miserable here in the summer.  And it is especially difficult because my walks and outdoor yard work relieve stress and maintain my morale during this pandemic.  Working in the yard and walking also allows my pent-up anger to work itself out through exercise.

Like many other Americans, I miss my friends and activities.  I especially miss my long talks over lunch and dinner with those close to me.  I miss my friend Eileen who loves concerts and asks me frequently to go with her.  Together we have heard African folk songs, Gladys Knight, Queen at the Symphony, the Indigo Girls, and Jazz at the Lincoln Center.  We texted not long ago saying maybe next June we can resume our outings.   I try to keep myself busy reading, taking classes, writing, listening to podcasts, watching videos, connecting on Zoom and social media, and playing with my cats.   But I need real intellectual and emotional human interaction with others, and I can feel myself losing motivation with a feeling of malaise.  I find myself waiting for everything to end in order to begin again.  And I know it will be a year before that happens.  I try to inspire myself by listening to music, ordering art supplies and new artwork for my house and creating Pinterest boards.  I dream of Christmas and all its joy, knowing I won’t have my annual Christmas party this year.  I know that this pandemic requires long-term discipline and that I need to dig deep within myself.

As things begin to open up in our area because cases of virus were declining, I ventured out to a few stores other than the grocery store to pick up items instead of purchasing online.  But the first thing I noticed was that staff and customers were often not wearing masks.  I had hoped that people understood that keeping the virus at bay required us to pull together to keep everyone as safe as possible and to save some of our businesses.   I also noticed friends and their families traveling to Florida and other states who were in the middle of a large outbreak because they wanted to vacation. I knew that as the southern states who never took the virus seriously and the western states who lost control when the state began to reopen, would soon affect the rest of the United States with interstate travel.  This was confirmed by a CDC representative that said we can no longer restrain the spread of the virus throughout the country, and this is just the first wave.

I am angry at the President and all his enablers who protect themselves, but not the citizens and military of this country.  I am angry at my neighbors and other citizens who don’t take precautions so that I can venture out of my home with a preexisting condition that probably will be deadly if I catch the virus.  As David Brooks said, “he had given up on the federal government, but had hoped the rest of the country would keep it together and they didn’t.”  Friends and family tell me I cannot control others, but that is not news to me.  Unfortunately, although I don’t know the exact end, I can see that this is going to be a lot worse than what many of us are prepared to endure.  The corruption in the Executive Branch and Senate runs so deep and the virus has a life of its own.  I can see family members and friends drawn into conspiracy theories and partisan politics instead of focusing on sustaining our constitution and rule of law, listening to other perspectives, and prioritizing the wellbeing of other Americans. 

But, then I remembered the protestors, the press that does not let up on their investigations, the Lincoln Project Republicans and the Academy of Arts and Sciences who are standing up for the constitution, and the leadership of sanity by the Democrats and Vice President Biden. I remember the many Americans that are waiting to vote in November and doing what they can to make a difference in the meantime by helping others.  I remind myself that the virus is going to be a lot harder on the medical professionals who are already emotionally and physically overwhelmed and at risk as the virus spreads.  And I remember the workers who are about to lose their jobs again and businesses that will have to permanently shut because people did not want to wear masks and practice social distancing.  I remember the essential workers who continue to put themselves at risk especially as the virus spreads out of control.  I remember the families who have lost loved ones to the virus and those who will in the next year.   It is all about perspective and I have to ask myself what can I do differently?  It is not about me and I have to hope that we pull together in the end, even as we pay the price as a nation for our lack of unity.  Without hope, love, and faith we are nothing.      

We desperately need leadership that can help us reimagine the world and our country and inspire us to work together.  We are on a precipice, but we have been in worse places as a country.  But I have not given up on the majority of Americans on this Fourth of July.  There is nothing we cannot accomplish together if we combine our individual talents and skills for a better world and remember the ideals of our founding fathers. We need to feel pride in their accomplishments, but recognize that they were also humans with flaws influenced by their society and economy.  But also know they that strived for a more perfect union in our country which we have left undone in 2020.

Dr. Heather Cox Richardson, an American historian wrote today, “The men who signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 pledged their ‘Lives, fortunes and sacred Honor’ to defend the idea of human equality.  Ever since then, Americans have sacrificed their own fortunes, honor, and even their lives for that principle.  Lincoln reminded Civil War Americans of those sacrifices when he urged the people of his era to ‘take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion... "

I agree with Dr. Richardson, these words of President Abraham Lincoln who was assassinated because he saved our nation and ended slavery, we should remember and live by in 2020 – “we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”