THE BOOK

Admittedly, I have always been more of a movie/television person. My relationship with books has been more or less of a utilitarian nature. Overall, I have read very few novels in my life, (occasionally this aversion was unavoidable, as per Da Vinci Code). Of course many years of schooling prompted me, or rather coerced me, to read plenty of books I would never have looked at otherwise. My shelves lined with books are now more for aspiration and inspiration. I know where to look when I wish insight from a particular guru on a given topic, and usually find what I am looking for.

I have been in reading groups. The accountability of the group has inspired me to read more. I find that group processes around reading, and group discussions around the subject matter, stimulate me to take more interest in the words on the page; which brings me to a little matter of a promotional nature.* For you see, there are books, and then there is THE BOOK. For many Christians there is only one true source of wisdom and knowledge – The Bible.

I once had someone ask me, “Why do you use the Bible so much?” referring to my consistent use of biblical material for readings on Sunday mornings. Hope Church being the open environment it is for use of non-biblical material, as well as a place that has kept the Bible at arm’s length I understood this question. I have enjoyed exposing myself to many new sources of wisdom during my years at Hope. My relationship to the Bible has changed dramatically since being a member of the Hope community.

However, we need not fear the Bible simply because some folks have taken it upon themselves to interpret The Book for the entire world. We can find much wisdom within its pages, and enlightenment through open, honest discussion about how that wisdom intersects with our lives and our experiences.

                                                THEREFORE (Here comes the pitch*)

Beginning September 12, 2006 we will enter a new phase of our relationship with The Book (The Bible) at Hope. At 7:00 PM on that Tuesday, Brett Hanson will lead a dialogic process with the Psalms. This will inaugurate Reclaiming: The Bible and Hope. Every Tuesday evening at 7:00 you, me, and anyone else from the community at large can walk into Hope, sit with a group of people, read a passage from The Bible, and openly discuss our experiences with the passage itself. We can nod our heads in agreement, as others share their reactions to, and stories around, the given passage, or we can disagree vehemently with the words on the page, take issue with the passage, and suggest that it does not speak to us in the same way it speaks to others.

Reclaiming: The Bible and Hope is an opportunity to reclaim The Bible, not as an icon for an institution, but as a valuable tool for wisdom and insight into our spiritual growth as human beings. It is an opportunity to reclaim Hope itself, to gather the community, to interact with one another, and to learn from one another in the process. I am excited about this new phase in our life together. I hope it will become for us as central to our life together as worship is on Sunday morning (although the centrality of that practice does differ from person to person). It will also be a great opportunity for invitation of friends and other folks from the larger community to “enter” Hope.

I will be busy with something else until mid-October. Brett will run the sessions of the Psalms until then, at which time I will begin sessions on the Gospel of Mark. We will be facilitating, not instructing. We will leave the teaching to one another as we open The Book together.