I have spent most of today engaging with the Bible in different ways, it was all part of a Continuing Development in Ministry Training Day with the York and Hull Methodist District led by Jenny Ellis. Very good it was too! Here are my thoughts on the Bible itself following today's sessions:
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Layer upon layer
your word unfolds
fresh pictures,
fresh insights,
older than time
yet fresh
as the dawns first light....
Here we find shadows
and illuminations,
questions
and answers,
and answers that lead
to more questions...
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Layer upon layer,
word upon word,
we understand
and misunderstand
within the same phrases,
the same word
challenges,
inspires,
rebukes
and comforts,
we learn and we unlearn
and we learn again...
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Layer upon layer
your word unfolds
within and without us,
for we cannot contain it
restrain it
or own it,
it is wild,
and free,
and we are freed by it
if we dare to let it loose
in our lives...
Picture by Tim- based on Isaiah 55
As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
(vs. 9-11)
