The Hebrew Bible, which Christians typically know as the Old Testament, still speaks to us. For those of us who read and use the Bible, this is not news. But in our culture today, it is less and less available to people as a resource for life. In effect, this was the message of an article I recently read and want to share highlights here. I think it is an important message of assurance in our crazy times.
Carol Glatz brings in a number of scholars to make her point that the Old Testament is a guide for coping in a time of trauma. I would agree that a large number of folks do experience this period as trauma. It is a period that has hurt us, scared us and threatened us with unimaginable things. It has been a trying time of loss---loss of life, jobs, security and so much more. Even if this has not been our direct hit, so many more of us feel vulnerable to this hit. We feel like sitting ducks.
Glatz soon quotes Jesuit Biblical scholar Dominik Markl, who we are told is a scholar at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. Markl says, “The Bible as a whole is, in many ways, a product of dealing with collective catastrophes…” Glatz continues to quote Markl. I really appreciated the next point he made. He tells us that the Bible is “a library produced over a millennium with multiple and often diverging responses to very difficult situations.” I am convinced most folks don’t see the Bible as a library, but that is a great way to picture it.
The Hebrew Bible was written by many different authors over a significantly long period of time. This is not to discount it may be inspired by the Spirit or that it has authority for both the church and people. But it does not serve our purposes to chase here the topics of the inspiration and authority of the Bible. Instead, I want to continue to see it as a resource for this time of trauma. The Bible can help us become resilient people---people of God.
Another scholar, Holy Cross professor Mahri Leonard-Fleckman, quips, “the Hebrew Bible can really speak to us in times like this.” This sounds like a promise and an assurance. Of course, we cannot prove it is true. But it is worth exploring this ancient library, i.e. the Hebrew Bible, and to trust it to help us. Where else are we going to find help in times like this?
That is a key phrase. We do live in strange times. Even those of us who are fairly old cannot remember a time quite like this. People may point times of war. That is not a bad comparison, but even in war, most folks think they know something about the enemy. In the case of the pandemic, the enemy is so tiny, we cannot even see it. It becomes hard to believe, until something happens. And then we know how malicious this microscopic enemy can be!
Not surprisingly, Leonard-Fleckman references the Old Testament book of Job. Job is an upright and just fellow who finds himself sorely tested in this world of God’s. Even though his friends come up with plausible reasons why is he suffering, it really is not that simple. Job does not deserve it, compared to so many others. Why is God doing this to him is the question. It is not easy to read Job, just as it is not easy to deal with the suffering and deaths in our own times. Why is God dealing with us in this particular way?
I like how Leonard-Fleckman tells us that God actually has some advice for Job. “Reorient your perspective so that you are not at the center, but ... I am at the center, so that the vastness of the universe is at the center, put your suffering in the midst of that,” God informs Job. Reorient yourself! That is tough advice, when all many of us want to hear from God is that this pandemic is now finished. The reorientation is even tougher news to receive when we realize God is asking us not to be the center of our little worlds. Many of us have worked quite hard to make sure our little worlds revolve around us.
Put God at the center of our lives is the point. This is not good news to some of us. After all, if God is at the center of our lives, that might mean we are not in control. That is probably the point. Who is in control of life? Most of the time, I can assume that I am in control. But in times of testing and suffering, all that is put into question. And for those who find life oppressive, they already know they are not in control. In many ways this points to the struggle of justice, which is also part of the tumult of our days.
So what happens if we put God in the center? This is probably the question for a book, but suffice it to say briefly to put God in the center is to give ourselves the best chance to understand our lives and our world in its most profound way. The world was doing its thing before I ever showed up and after I am gone, it still will be doing its own thing. Maybe the deal all along was not to be egocentric!
Egocentric people cannot authentically love nor serve. They are takers, not givers. They become selfish. They really can become a problem---a real pain in the butt! Of course, none of us would even see ourselves this way. But I have to ask…am I one of these folks?
It is time for me to turn to the Hebrew Bible----it still speaks to us.
Those of us who have read theology or, perhaps, those who are people of faith and are old enough might well recognize this title as a reminder of the late Jewish philosopher and theologian, Martin Buber. I remember reading Buber’s book, I and Thou , when I was in college in the 1960s. It was already a famous book by then. I am not sure I fully understood it, but that would not be the last time I read it. It has been a while since I looked at the book. Buber came up in a conversation with a friend who asked if I had seen the recent article by David Brooks? I had not seen it, but when I was told about it, I knew I would quickly locate and read that piece. I very much like what Brooks decides to write about and what he contributes to societal conversation. I wish more people read him and took him seriously. Brooks’ article focused on the 2016 contentious election. He provocatively suggests, “Read Buber, Not the Polls!” I think Brooks puts
Thank you, Alan. Our culture today is dominated by folks who are putting themselves at the center. We need a leader like Lincoln or FDR, who tried to make us see and take part in a wider vision -- in Lincoln's case, especially, citing God as the center of our lives.
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