One of my all-time favorite books is written by Rachel Held Evans and is entitled - Inspired. She wrote it hoping to help folks who had set the Bible aside for some reason, to fall in love with it once again. In my reading this morning the author is talking about the inspiration of Scripture. She suggests that as readers we shouldn't expect that every time we come to a biblical text we'll leave "happily awestruck and enlightened." "Inspiration", she says, "on both the giving and receiving end, takes practice and patience. It means showing up even when you don't feel like it, even when it seems that no one else is there. It means waiting for wind to stir."
"God is still breathing. The Bible is both inspired and inspiring. Our job is to ready the sails and gather the embers, to discuss and debate, and like the biblical character Jacob, to wrestle with the mystery until God gives us a blessing."
"If you're curious, you will never leave the text without learning something new. If you're persistent, you just might leave inspired."
As I seek to be persistent in my attention both to Scripture and to what God may be doing all around me, I'm glad for this space to reflect and write a little each day. Thanks for joining me.
Goodness and grace to you today.
Ruth
