Meet my next-door neighbor...the Bible.
He is a little eccentric. I met Him, really met Him, about 20 years ago, because I was tired of just hearing about Him and all His children and stories. I felt like if He lived just next door, it would be better if I got to know Him myself.
But I was nervous. What if I couldn't understand how He talked, what He meant? So, being a first-grade teacher, I got to know Him through a children's Bible storybook. I had small children at the time so I could pretend I was reading to them but not so--it was all I could handle in the beginning. If you haven't met Him yourself, you might not know He can be a bit intimidating and overwhelming at first glance.
So now we were on speaking terms but if I was going to really engage as a neighbor, there would need to be some regular visits where we really listen to each other. You know, we get to know each other's stories and children and concerns and celebrations. So I asked Him to speak to me in a language I could understand.
I settled on two "versions" of my neighbor: the Message--MSG--translation (my favorite way to hear Him speak) and the New International Version--NIV. Now we were in a position to hang out some together but, oh, where to begin--too much of Him!
It makes me think of the question: How do you eat the elephant in the room? and its proverbial answer: One bite at a time.
Over the next few days, I hope to bring you snapshots of my Neighbor--some of His eccentricities, a crazy story or two, some ways to meet Him yourself if you choose since, oops, He's your next-door neighbor, too!
