Living in the Spirit

July 4, 2023

Scripture Reading:

Psalm 45:10-17

Hear, O daughter, consider and incline your ear;
   forget your people and your father’s house,
   and the king will desire your beauty.
Since he is your lord, bow to him;
   the people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts,
   the richest of the people with all kinds of wealth.

I must confess I do not ever remember reading this scripture. I have because, in the distant past, I read the Bible from cover to cover at least twice sans the Apocrypha. I have since read the Apocrypha. I think the first time I knew the Apocrypha existed was when I bought my first NRSV Bible, published in 1989. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947. The RSV Bible was the first Bible that I read that began to update with the revelations that were brought forth in the Dead Sea Scrolls. I say all that to say that the Bible is at the top of my list for guidance in living as a God-believer and a Christ-follower. I also know that I am reading stories that record 4000 years of history, largely from oral tradition.

I have lived through many years of misogyny in the workplace, having years of experience and appropriate education only to be supervised by younger men who have little or no experience or related education. I have yet to understand why people think that getting a law degree prepares one to be an administrator.  I worked for the government. Those men had good connections. The scripture above also made me remember some of the women I competed with for advancement who slept their way to promotions. That is what I picked up in the above scripture.

I write all that to say we need to respect the Bible for what it is and not worship it for what it is not. It is a history of the faith lives of the people who are identified as followers of the God first introduced to us by a man named Abraham. It was recorded in the context of its time and place culture. Its truth is in the threads of God with us that run through its entirety. Each day we live in our relationship with God, we could create a journal that would explain our circumstances in time and place and provide witness to the acts of God. The fact that slavery was taken for granted throughout the Bible does not make it right. Nor is it just that women who largely remain nameless in the Bible served subservient roles.

Prayer: Lord, help us glean the truth provided for us from the scriptures we study and not get caught up in the cultural realities of its time. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.