The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. -Isaiah 35:10
Dear members and friends,
I have been reading and studying the Bible for 30 years quite seriously, with one simple reason that I chose a path of life dedicated to it. One truth that always amazes me with a deep sadness is the human tendency to interpret or recreate everything, including the Bible, in a way that suits their own understanding and convenience. While it is fairly natural for a person to filter reality through rules and conditions that make sense to their own mind, the problem is that their reality may then be shaped and limited by their experiences, knowledge, and intellectual capability (or lack thereof). Thus, one undeniable truth is that what is real for one person might be far from the truth and uncomparable to another person’s reality. Taking this truth to mind, we might be able to see and understand the deep problem of taking stories in the Bible literally. By doing so, we are understanding and interpreting them in a way that makes sense to only one mind, our own!
I believe that there is a message from the Divine Being embedded inside the Bible. However, I personally do not believe that every detail of the Bible is written by the direct guidance of the Holy Ghost. What is important about the book, the Bible, is therefore not about all the details of its stories and believing them true as written, but about the central message of the book itself. Even though the central message was given by God, still the Bible itself was written in a human language by human beings. In a way, the essential purpose of writing the book might have been nothing other than sharing their experiences of the Divine with each other. So what is the central message of the Bible? It is two-fold: 1. There is a Divine Creator, who is eternal; 2. Human beings can obtain what is eternal from the Creator. This is why the Bible mentions the word “everlasting” very often. As our true purpose of being is to cultivate what is eternal, what we should be more focused on must be the quality of our mind, instead of the quality of our body.
My brothers and sisters in God, let us take a moment of prayer this week. Find a time and place that is quiet and, engaging deeply in our mind, ask, “Do I truly believe in the message of the Bible?”
Blessings, Rev. Junchol Lee