You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
Do you ever read guidebooks about a place before you visit it? I try, and find I can’t really retain the details – it’s too abstract, too flat. Once I’ve been there, though, I enjoy going back to the book, to let its information fill out what I’ve now seen and experienced.
The Bible can be that way – a whole lot of information and other people’s stories, until we experience God for ourselves and have a personal context from which to process those writings. Perhaps that’s how the Scriptures were for Jesus’ followers before the resurrection, sacred writings that spoke of God’s activity in the past and promised some future restoration that they couldn’t imagine. But after Jesus rose from the dead? Ah, now, let’s read that prophecy again.
Is this what the two disciples on the Emmaus road experienced when the stranger walking with them began to teach them? Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
Later they say, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” With interpretation, all those words and stories of God suddenly made a kind of sense. They were leading somewhere. They had their own validity in their original contexts and communities – yet now they also had a new interpretation, both broader and narrower, pointing to what God was up to in the mission of Jesus Christ on earth.
Guidebooks are great, but we often benefit from having a guide as well, someone who’s been further up the road to help us interpret the path we’re traveling. In Jesus, those sojourners found a Guide who could help interpret the Guidebook. In the Holy Spirit, we get the same gift; as we read the Scriptures alone or with others, aided by Christ’s Spirit, they come to life, and bring life to us.
Who has helped you better understand parts of the Bible that you’ve read? Who have you helped?
What other guides have come alongside you on the spiritual path, to help make sense of your surroundings – spiritual directors, teachers, authors?
If reading the bible is a challenge for you, you might take a small chunk each day and pray before you read, “Holy Spirit, be with me in my reading and receiving – show me what gifts your Word has for me today.” Read and see what catches your attention. Read it again. Try reading it aloud. Stay with that passage for another day if it’s giving you life. If you’re not part of a bible study group, I highly recommend joining one – having other people’s insights and perspectives opens it up for us.
This Book of ours is a good guidebook, even as some parts can be dull, and others seem out of touch, even angering. The terrain it describes is vast and intricate, ancient and yet to come. But with the Spirit’s help, this Word can nurture our spirits and strengthen our faith… and occasionally even start a fire in our hearts.
© Kate Heichler, 2026. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
Showing posts with label Bible. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bible. Show all posts
1-22-25 - Hearing the Word
You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
Every week in Bible Study* I am reminded of why we need to hear the Word of God and not just read it. Different voices bring out different aspects of the text, lending it color and nuance and, yes, texture. The practice of reading Scripture in the assembly of the faithful goes back thousands of years – it was already a feature of weekly worship when Jesus began his ministry. In fact, he was a lector: When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.
We’ll leave for another day the shock of what he did after he read; today, let’s just focus on the act of reading scripture aloud. Hearing the Word read is yet one more way this Gift of God is mediated through human beings, which happens at each stage of scripture’s development. People were inspired by God; told and retold, shaped and reshaped stories about their encounters with God; wrote down those stories and received teachings; collected and shaped those writings; and translated those collections. Countless human beings were involved in each of those stages, which makes the Bible a rich tapestry of ideas and enthusiasms – and distortions.
And each time we hear a passage of Scripture read, it is mediated through the thinking and voice of another person, giving it new life and new ways to interpret it. Just try reading a passage, emphasizing the verbs and then read it again emphasizing the pronouns. You’ll get two very different readings.
And the Word of God comes through differently when we hear it rather than just reading it for ourselves. Read it aloud even when alone, just to hear the cadence of the words, the way the ideas go together or seem to clash, the wit and wisdom that are often to be found just below the surface. Just as can happen when we read poetry aloud, we often find scripture easier to understand when we hear it.
I tell lectors to read in church as if they're reading a story at bedtime. I’ve also heard the ministry of reading Scripture in church likened to being an aqueduct – a vessel carrying the Living Water to the people. That day in the synagogue, Jesus was the aqueduct as well as the Living Water. We get to carry him as we read his stories to each other.
*Join me for Bible Study online Wednesday at 7 pm EST - we're currently exploring “Fierce Femmes of the Bible.”
© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
Every week in Bible Study* I am reminded of why we need to hear the Word of God and not just read it. Different voices bring out different aspects of the text, lending it color and nuance and, yes, texture. The practice of reading Scripture in the assembly of the faithful goes back thousands of years – it was already a feature of weekly worship when Jesus began his ministry. In fact, he was a lector: When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.
We’ll leave for another day the shock of what he did after he read; today, let’s just focus on the act of reading scripture aloud. Hearing the Word read is yet one more way this Gift of God is mediated through human beings, which happens at each stage of scripture’s development. People were inspired by God; told and retold, shaped and reshaped stories about their encounters with God; wrote down those stories and received teachings; collected and shaped those writings; and translated those collections. Countless human beings were involved in each of those stages, which makes the Bible a rich tapestry of ideas and enthusiasms – and distortions.
And each time we hear a passage of Scripture read, it is mediated through the thinking and voice of another person, giving it new life and new ways to interpret it. Just try reading a passage, emphasizing the verbs and then read it again emphasizing the pronouns. You’ll get two very different readings.
And the Word of God comes through differently when we hear it rather than just reading it for ourselves. Read it aloud even when alone, just to hear the cadence of the words, the way the ideas go together or seem to clash, the wit and wisdom that are often to be found just below the surface. Just as can happen when we read poetry aloud, we often find scripture easier to understand when we hear it.
I tell lectors to read in church as if they're reading a story at bedtime. I’ve also heard the ministry of reading Scripture in church likened to being an aqueduct – a vessel carrying the Living Water to the people. That day in the synagogue, Jesus was the aqueduct as well as the Living Water. We get to carry him as we read his stories to each other.
*Join me for Bible Study online Wednesday at 7 pm EST - we're currently exploring “Fierce Femmes of the Bible.”
© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
7-12-24 - The Hole-y Bible?
You can listen to this reflection here.
I accept the Holy Scriptures as having spiritual authority, as God-inspired words set down by holy and faithful men and women, our ancestors in faith. I don’t believe in cherry-picking the texts that “work for us,” or picking and choosing what we find helpful or relevant. If anything, followers of Christ should ask how we might be made more relevant to the scriptures rather than the other way around.
And yet… there are these passages, like this week’s gospel, which may speak truth about human depravity, but in which I can discern little spiritual benefit. The beheading of John, the rapes of Dinah and Tamar, the conquest of Ai, the endless cosmic battles in Revelation, pretty much the whole bloody book of Judges… what are we to make of these passages in which the human origin or score-settling seems to far outweigh any discernible divine inspiration?
Some people, like Thomas Jefferson, simply cut out the parts of Scripture they don’t agree with; in Jefferson’s case, that meant any reference to the miraculous or supernatural. Others, like Jehovah’s Witnesses, alter passages that don’t match their theology. Others ignore the parts they don’t like, or focus on one part of the Bible to the exclusion of others, which can lead to a dangerous lack of balance in teaching and living. Any of these approaches lead to a hole-y bible rather than Holy Writ.
How can we appreciate the holiness of God’s Word when not every word in it seems holy? I try to remember that someone was inviting the presence of the Holy Spirit to indwell it at every stage of its transmission: as a story passed along orally; when written down (sometimes by multiple sources); when edited and collected and consecrated by communities of faith; when translated; and finally when read by us. We can pray that God reveal to us a nugget of grace in even the worst story. After all, in our lives we encounter many horrible stories in which we seek to discern the redemptive power of God, for that is what we proclaim, a God who has triumphed over sin and death.
I appreciate the challenge of finding good news in any passage of scripture, some connection to God’s plan of salvation. For instance, this week’s gospel passage rounds out the picture we have of John the Baptist, his fierce and fearless dedication to the mission of God. It reminds us that our days in this world are but the blink of an eye in the scope of our eternal life with God.
This story is a part of the Holy Bible, and as such it is also holy, set apart, like the people of God. We can rejoice in the way that John the Baptist was willing to allow himself to be an integral part of that plan, in life and in death. And we can receive it as one of the realities of this world that is passing away, as God works out that plan “to gather up all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth.”
© Kate Heichler, 2024. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
I accept the Holy Scriptures as having spiritual authority, as God-inspired words set down by holy and faithful men and women, our ancestors in faith. I don’t believe in cherry-picking the texts that “work for us,” or picking and choosing what we find helpful or relevant. If anything, followers of Christ should ask how we might be made more relevant to the scriptures rather than the other way around.
And yet… there are these passages, like this week’s gospel, which may speak truth about human depravity, but in which I can discern little spiritual benefit. The beheading of John, the rapes of Dinah and Tamar, the conquest of Ai, the endless cosmic battles in Revelation, pretty much the whole bloody book of Judges… what are we to make of these passages in which the human origin or score-settling seems to far outweigh any discernible divine inspiration?
Some people, like Thomas Jefferson, simply cut out the parts of Scripture they don’t agree with; in Jefferson’s case, that meant any reference to the miraculous or supernatural. Others, like Jehovah’s Witnesses, alter passages that don’t match their theology. Others ignore the parts they don’t like, or focus on one part of the Bible to the exclusion of others, which can lead to a dangerous lack of balance in teaching and living. Any of these approaches lead to a hole-y bible rather than Holy Writ.
How can we appreciate the holiness of God’s Word when not every word in it seems holy? I try to remember that someone was inviting the presence of the Holy Spirit to indwell it at every stage of its transmission: as a story passed along orally; when written down (sometimes by multiple sources); when edited and collected and consecrated by communities of faith; when translated; and finally when read by us. We can pray that God reveal to us a nugget of grace in even the worst story. After all, in our lives we encounter many horrible stories in which we seek to discern the redemptive power of God, for that is what we proclaim, a God who has triumphed over sin and death.
I appreciate the challenge of finding good news in any passage of scripture, some connection to God’s plan of salvation. For instance, this week’s gospel passage rounds out the picture we have of John the Baptist, his fierce and fearless dedication to the mission of God. It reminds us that our days in this world are but the blink of an eye in the scope of our eternal life with God.
This story is a part of the Holy Bible, and as such it is also holy, set apart, like the people of God. We can rejoice in the way that John the Baptist was willing to allow himself to be an integral part of that plan, in life and in death. And we can receive it as one of the realities of this world that is passing away, as God works out that plan “to gather up all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth.”
© Kate Heichler, 2024. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
1-19-22 - Hearing the Word
You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
Every week in Bible Study* I am reminded of why we need to hear the Word of God and not just read it. Different voices bring out different aspects of the text, lending it color and nuance and, yes, texture. The practice of reading Scripture in the assembly of the faithful goes back thousands of years – it was already a feature of weekly worship when Jesus began his ministry. In fact, he was a lector:
When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.
We’ll leave for another day the shock of what he did after he read; today, let’s just focus on the act of reading scripture aloud. Hearing the Word read is yet one more way this Gift of God is mediated through human beings, which happens at each stage of scripture’s development. People were inspired by God; told and retold, shaped and reshaped stories about their encounters with God; wrote down those stories and received teachings; collected and shaped those writings; and translated those collections. Countless human beings were involved in each of those stages, which makes the Bible a rich tapestry of ideas and enthusiasms – and some distortions.
And each time we hear a passage of Scripture read, it is mediated through the thinking and voice of another person, giving it new life and new ways to interpret it. Just try reading a passage, emphasizing the verbs and then read it again emphasizing the pronouns. You’ll get two very different readings.
And the Word of God comes through differently when we hear it rather than just reading it for ourselves. Read it aloud even when alone, just to hear the cadence of the words, the way the ideas go together or seem to clash, the wit and wisdom that are often to be found just below the surface. Just as can happen when we read poetry aloud, we often find scripture easier to understand when we hear it.
I tell lectors to read in church as if they're reading a story at bedtime. I’ve also heard the ministry of reading Scripture in church likened to being an aqueduct – a vessel carrying the Living Water to the people. That day in the synagogue, Jesus was the aqueduct as well as the Living Water. We get to carry him as we read his stories to each other.
*Join me for Bible Study online tonight (Wednesday) at 7 pm EST - we're delving into the Gospel of John.
Every week in Bible Study* I am reminded of why we need to hear the Word of God and not just read it. Different voices bring out different aspects of the text, lending it color and nuance and, yes, texture. The practice of reading Scripture in the assembly of the faithful goes back thousands of years – it was already a feature of weekly worship when Jesus began his ministry. In fact, he was a lector:
When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.
We’ll leave for another day the shock of what he did after he read; today, let’s just focus on the act of reading scripture aloud. Hearing the Word read is yet one more way this Gift of God is mediated through human beings, which happens at each stage of scripture’s development. People were inspired by God; told and retold, shaped and reshaped stories about their encounters with God; wrote down those stories and received teachings; collected and shaped those writings; and translated those collections. Countless human beings were involved in each of those stages, which makes the Bible a rich tapestry of ideas and enthusiasms – and some distortions.
And each time we hear a passage of Scripture read, it is mediated through the thinking and voice of another person, giving it new life and new ways to interpret it. Just try reading a passage, emphasizing the verbs and then read it again emphasizing the pronouns. You’ll get two very different readings.
And the Word of God comes through differently when we hear it rather than just reading it for ourselves. Read it aloud even when alone, just to hear the cadence of the words, the way the ideas go together or seem to clash, the wit and wisdom that are often to be found just below the surface. Just as can happen when we read poetry aloud, we often find scripture easier to understand when we hear it.
I tell lectors to read in church as if they're reading a story at bedtime. I’ve also heard the ministry of reading Scripture in church likened to being an aqueduct – a vessel carrying the Living Water to the people. That day in the synagogue, Jesus was the aqueduct as well as the Living Water. We get to carry him as we read his stories to each other.
*Join me for Bible Study online tonight (Wednesday) at 7 pm EST - we're delving into the Gospel of John.
7-9-21 - The Hole-y Bible
You can listen to this reflection here.
I accept the Holy Scriptures as having spiritual authority, as God-inspired words set down by holy and faithful men and women, our ancestors in faith. I don’t believe in cherry-picking the texts that “work for us,” or picking and choosing what we find helpful or relevant. If anything, followers of Christ should ask how we might be made more relevant to the scriptures rather than the other way around.
And yet… there are these passages, like this week’s gospel, which may speak truth about human depravity, but in which I can discern little spiritual benefit. The beheading of John, the rapes of Dinah and Tamar, the conquest of Ai, the endless cosmic battles in Revelation, pretty much the whole bloody book of Judges… what are we to make of these passages in which the human origin or score-settling seems to far outweigh any discernible divine inspiration?
Some people, like Thomas Jefferson, simply cut out the parts of Scripture they didn't agree with; in Jefferson’s case, that meant any reference to the miraculous or supernatural. Others, like Jehovah’s Witnesses, alter passages that don’t match their theology. Others ignore the parts they don’t like, or focus on one part of the Bible to the exclusion of others, which can lead to a dangerous lack of balance in teaching and living. Any of these approaches lead to a hole-y bible rather than Holy Writ.
How can we appreciate the holiness of God’s Word when not every word in it seems holy? I try to remember that someone was inviting the presence of the Holy Spirit to indwell it at every stage of its transmission – as a story passed along orally, when written down (sometimes by multiple sources), when edited and collected and consecrated by communities of faith, when translated, and finally when read by us. We can pray that God reveal to us a nugget of grace in even the worst story. After all, in our lives we encounter many horrible stories in which we need to be able to discern the redemptive power of God, for that is what we proclaim, a God who has triumphed over sin and death.
I appreciate the challenge of finding good news in any passage of scripture, some connection to God’s plan of salvation. For instance, this week’s gospel passage rounds out the picture we have of John the Baptist, his fierce and fearless dedication to the mission of God, and reminds us that our days in this world are but the blink of an eye in the scope of our eternal life with God.
That being said, I have decided to use next week’s gospel at my church this Sunday, and then swap in Jesus’ healing of the Gadarene demoniac, which got skipped in the past few weeks. (If you want to read what I wrote about this text three years ago, you can find the post here.) With only 52 Sundays in the year, and many life-giving, soul-transforming messages to impart. I don’t want to give this sad tale airtime that could go to a story of healing or ministry that encourages the faithful.
This story is a part of the Holy Bible, and as such it is also holy, set apart, like the people of God. And we can rejoice in the way that John the Baptist was willing to allow himself to be an integral part of that plan, in life and in death. And we can receive it as one of the realities of this world that is passing away, as God works out that plan “to gather up all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth.”
I accept the Holy Scriptures as having spiritual authority, as God-inspired words set down by holy and faithful men and women, our ancestors in faith. I don’t believe in cherry-picking the texts that “work for us,” or picking and choosing what we find helpful or relevant. If anything, followers of Christ should ask how we might be made more relevant to the scriptures rather than the other way around.
And yet… there are these passages, like this week’s gospel, which may speak truth about human depravity, but in which I can discern little spiritual benefit. The beheading of John, the rapes of Dinah and Tamar, the conquest of Ai, the endless cosmic battles in Revelation, pretty much the whole bloody book of Judges… what are we to make of these passages in which the human origin or score-settling seems to far outweigh any discernible divine inspiration?
Some people, like Thomas Jefferson, simply cut out the parts of Scripture they didn't agree with; in Jefferson’s case, that meant any reference to the miraculous or supernatural. Others, like Jehovah’s Witnesses, alter passages that don’t match their theology. Others ignore the parts they don’t like, or focus on one part of the Bible to the exclusion of others, which can lead to a dangerous lack of balance in teaching and living. Any of these approaches lead to a hole-y bible rather than Holy Writ.
How can we appreciate the holiness of God’s Word when not every word in it seems holy? I try to remember that someone was inviting the presence of the Holy Spirit to indwell it at every stage of its transmission – as a story passed along orally, when written down (sometimes by multiple sources), when edited and collected and consecrated by communities of faith, when translated, and finally when read by us. We can pray that God reveal to us a nugget of grace in even the worst story. After all, in our lives we encounter many horrible stories in which we need to be able to discern the redemptive power of God, for that is what we proclaim, a God who has triumphed over sin and death.
I appreciate the challenge of finding good news in any passage of scripture, some connection to God’s plan of salvation. For instance, this week’s gospel passage rounds out the picture we have of John the Baptist, his fierce and fearless dedication to the mission of God, and reminds us that our days in this world are but the blink of an eye in the scope of our eternal life with God.
That being said, I have decided to use next week’s gospel at my church this Sunday, and then swap in Jesus’ healing of the Gadarene demoniac, which got skipped in the past few weeks. (If you want to read what I wrote about this text three years ago, you can find the post here.) With only 52 Sundays in the year, and many life-giving, soul-transforming messages to impart. I don’t want to give this sad tale airtime that could go to a story of healing or ministry that encourages the faithful.
This story is a part of the Holy Bible, and as such it is also holy, set apart, like the people of God. And we can rejoice in the way that John the Baptist was willing to allow himself to be an integral part of that plan, in life and in death. And we can receive it as one of the realities of this world that is passing away, as God works out that plan “to gather up all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth.”
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