In our enthusiasm to be devout and spiritual we tend to often fail to grasp the real meaning of being so. We comfortably - and obstinately - settle for the means rather than the goal. The means is something truly good and noble but we turn that into an end in itself, forgetting that it is supposed to lead us to the living God. One simple example: the Bible. The scriptures are meant to help us come closer to God. However, it is also possible that we get so lost in the Bible that we forget God! For those who contend that the word cannot be separated from God himself, need to ask themselves ' Is God so fossilized in the written word that he can no longer speak and make himself known through other means?' If so, then they've never really understood God; some may have perhaps made the Bible into their God.
We Christians run the same danger of the Jews in Jesus' time. The Jews then were sure of the scriptures, knew exactly what God was like and what he wanted. But there comes a man named Jesus, saying and doing all the wrong things, and yet claiming to have been sent by the very God whose 'laws' he was breaking! Today we are so 'full' of Christianity, that God himself may find it hard to enter our lives. The readings of the day (God appearing to the Israelites on Sinai and 'blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear') are a stark reminder of waking up to this reality, rather than blaming those gone by for failing to notice the presence of God amidst them.
All that we say or do is for us to feel the presence of God. Trust that He can use any and every means to reach to us. We are only called to be open to His message. Not be fixated on something so stubbornly that we block out not only any further communication from him but Him altogether!
We Christians run the same danger of the Jews in Jesus' time. The Jews then were sure of the scriptures, knew exactly what God was like and what he wanted. But there comes a man named Jesus, saying and doing all the wrong things, and yet claiming to have been sent by the very God whose 'laws' he was breaking! Today we are so 'full' of Christianity, that God himself may find it hard to enter our lives. The readings of the day (God appearing to the Israelites on Sinai and 'blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear') are a stark reminder of waking up to this reality, rather than blaming those gone by for failing to notice the presence of God amidst them.
All that we say or do is for us to feel the presence of God. Trust that He can use any and every means to reach to us. We are only called to be open to His message. Not be fixated on something so stubbornly that we block out not only any further communication from him but Him altogether!
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