Inspired: Deliverance Stories

1) Returning from Moscow and trying to get on full-time with the State Dept. was a wilderness experience. I left Moscow without a job, in a leave-without-pay (LWOP) status, on Dec. 15, 1995, the day Newt Gingrich and his Republican buddies shut down the government, I think to spite Bill Clinton. We relocated to No. Virginia, so I could try to get another federal job and keep my government service unbroken. I took the metro in to DC every couple of weeks to check job postings at State, and also take computer classes at night to improve my skills. Nothing was happening, so I asked State to extend my LWOP for another six months, and started the process of going back to the USPS, something I dreaded and really didn't want to do. But to keep my federal career intact I retook the clerk/carrier exam and was able to get rehired less than one week before my LWOP expired. I was at one of the lowest points in my life, having trudged through a rainy, cold January day of carrying mail, when I returned home to two messages from State, telling me to call back ASAP, to get the paperwork started to begin work at FSI (Foreign Service Institute). I was totally stunned and disbelieving. I had not interviewed or even been contacted about any possible position, and here I was being offered a job, in technology, at State! Only God could have "made that way"!
2) Thankfully, I don't see myself in a wilderness now. I see myself in a good spot, healthy and happy, enjoying AZ and retirement.
3) I have seen God's hand in my life many times, but usually only when I look in the "rear view mirror". Only upon reflection, can I see how He has guided my steps. If I was to name my "well" it would be "Moscow". Just getting there, and continuing my federal career was a miracle, but the return (above) was a clear deliverance story for me.
4) The most glaring example is slave traders justifying the exploitation of black people claiming the curse of Noah's son Ham rendered all Africans subhuman. Sadly, racism of varying degrees still persists. The story of exodus ("Let My People GO!") inspired the abolitionist movement of the 19th century and the civil rights movement of the 20th century. Th Bible can be used to justify any position, which shakes and strengthens my faith. We need discernment, and Jesus as our model for how we interpret the Bible. His "fulfillment of the Law" was love, compassion, healing, and forgiveness; not violence and oppression.
5) After Martha's brain surgery in 1997, there did not seem to be a way where she would recover. Some doctors said she may be stuck in a wheelchair with little cognitive function. I was afraid for our future, yet I knew, deep down, that God would somehow bring her back. Many people prayed for her healing and gradually she came back. This was a wilderness time for both of us where we were starved for any "morsel of manna" as a sign of God's presence. Today she is a miracle of God's grace and healing, a testimony to the power of prayer. I knew God had to make a way (for her recovery) because to the human eye, there was no way.
6) My impression of the Law has been and is negative. I understand how it brought order and stability and limits, but it was also very oppressive and patriarchal. Women were treated worse than slaves in many cases. I see it now as a way for God to "herd His Hebrew cats", to try to control and focus them on being God's representatives on earth. We have to remember that "God is like Jesus" - who came to fulfill the Law perfectly through his love, forgiveness, healing, and ultimate sacrifice on the cross.
7) I remember early on in my Bible studies, a strong emphasis on context: the who, where and when is often more important than the how and why. We all come to the Bible (and everything else) with our own personal bias, often trying to find Godly support for our own preconceived views. We have to guard against this misuse of Scripture. Asking ourselves, "What am I looking for?" is an honest way to keep a check on our personal biases.

Inspired: Origin Stories

1) The closest memory I have to an "origin story", is the Kraus Family Code of "family first" My parents drilled this into us kids over and over. As a result, all seven of us remain close, with little or no acrimony among us. Also, growing up in a large family required cooperation and service. We had to get along, and also help each other. This instilled in me, at an early age, a compassionate service outlook on life. It was the "right thing to do" to help people, be nice to people, and respect people. I have tried to live this way my whole life.
2) I recall reading about Billy Graham's "crisis of faith". He had to decide if the Bible was true despite its many troubling parts. He decided just because he can't understand it, that doesn't make it untrue. This is the approach I take. I believe the Bible is true, though not always fact. It is the story of humanity's relationship with God, how then and now we struggle within that relationship, and our relationship with each other.
3) Little Haggai's creation story involved many gods, playing many roles, competing with each other and creating chaos. Marduk prevails, bringing some order, but creating humans as his slaves. "Papa's" story is how Elohim (God) alone created everything, bringing order out of the chaos, but creating humans in his image as stewards, not slaves. Unlike Marduk, "our God doesn't need a temple; he rests and rules everywhere."
4) For many years I viewed the Genesis creation story as fact. God created everything we see in six days, resting on the seventh. Science's inability to explain it was science's problem. Now I am no longer bound to literal Creationism. I do believe God created everything everywhere, but it is no longer important that Genesis lines up with science. Genesis (and the Bible) is not a scientific treatise. It is the story of the relationship between God and his Creation, then and now. The "story" is true at a level deeper than fact.
5) An important family origin story (to me) is how Grandpa Kraus converted from Lutheran to Catholic in order to marry Granny Kraus. It reinforced at an early age the supremacy of Catholicism over all others as "the one true faith."  Over 60 years later, when I (Catholic) married Martha (Lutheran) we still had to account for this dynamic by having co-celebrants (Lutheran minister and Catholic priest) at Martha's Lutheran church. Granny probably would not have attended without this accommodation.
6) I have had an interesting faith journey. Moving from "one true faith" (Catholicism) to literal, infallible Scripture (BSF), to my current more open, less dogmatic position. Again, I believe the Bible is true in ways that are deeper than fact. There is a "deeper magic" (CS Lewis) that governs the cosmos. I bristle whenever someone says "The Bible says..." or (worse) "God told me..." Almost always the very next words are self-serving. I was appalled when AG Jeff Sessions quoted Romans 13:1, stating we should obey and not question our government officials because their authority is from God, while conveniently omitting Romans 13:10; "Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." I almost vomited at this blatant hypocrisy.
7)  I had not previously considered the circumstance behind how the Hebrew Bible (HB) was written. If most of the HB began with the reign of King David (high point) and continued through the Babylonian exile (low point), we must view it through a new contextual lens. The Jews in captivity, and those left behind in the decimated Jerusalem, had a huge crisis of faith, and struggled mightily with how to understand their new situation as "God's Chosen People". How could they be "chosen" and yet suffer this catastrophe? Is God still there? Does God still care? Questions we still ask today.
  I appreciate RHE's concluding remarks for this chapter: " If I've learned anything from 35 years of doubt and belief, it's that faith is not passive intellectual assent to a set of propositions. It's a rough-and-tumble, no-holds-barred, all-night-long struggle, and sometimes you have to demand your blessing rather than wait around for it.....With Scripture...We've been invited to a dynamic, centuries long conversation with God and God's people that has been unfolding since creation, one story at a time. If we're lucky it will leave us with a limp."

Inspired:Intro

Hey Brian, I finished the “Inspired” intro, and here are a few of my thoughts:

·         Early thoughts/feelings about the Bible, for me, are nonexistent. My Roman Catholic (RC) upbringing was more indoctrination than discovery or exploration. We were taught to never question, just obey. It wasn’t until I met Martha and heard about God’s grace that I began to explore God’s Word for myself. In the early-mid 80s, I went to a Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) class, my first Bible study. It changed my life and how I encounter God. And over the next 35 years, my idea about what the Bible is and what it means for us, has evolved.

·         Rachel Held Evans (RHE) asks, “What was your favorite Bible story as a child, and how do you read it now as an adult?”  For me, I guess it was Noah’s Ark. Obviously it was a miracle how God saved all the animals. How could they all fit on the boat and survive (not eat each other)? Well, now I look at it as a metaphorical story, that God will go to any length to protect His creation. Also, as kids there was never any talk of “How could a good God commit genocide on the world’s population (except Noah and family)?”

·         One of the most confusing things of the Bible is the post-Eden populating of the earth. Adam and Eve had Cain, Abel, and (later) Seth. After Cain murdered Abel, he was cast out of God’s presence. And settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Well, where did Cain’s wife come from? Did God ‘start’ a whole different family tree outside of Eden that was populating Nod? Cain’s wife, and therefore the people of Nod, just show up!

·         If I was to describe the Bible in the 1980s, I would say it was inspired, inerrant, infallible, trustworthy, authoritative, and sacred. Today I would say it is inspired, trustworthy, and sacred. I believe God “breathed” His story into many authors over many millennia. Not every bit is fact, but in some mysterious way, every bit is true. And because God Himself inspired it, at some level the Bible is sacred; and it is therefore trustworthy as a revelation of God’s character and plan.

·         I was attracted to BSF to help me understand the Bible better. Reading the Bible straight through (GEN – REV) was a bit of a slog the first time, but I persevered. Like RHE, I discovered my “life verse”. It literally jumped of the page when I read it. “For to the one who pleases him, God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy…” Ecclesiastes 2:26a. Also. Matthew (MT) was my first BSF study, and MT 5:17 rebuked my notion of believing only the New Testament (NT), when Jesus said, “I have come to fulfill the Law and the Prophets…” i.e. the OT and all it’s confusing bits.

·         RHE encourages us to write our own Bible story, so here goes.  “Once upon a time there was a boy who, for decades, was told there was only one way, one story to believe. Then he met a girl who believed in God’s grace which he had never heard of. This was a much better story, so he started to follow that story. It changed his life in profound ways, and made him a more compassionate and loving follower of Jesus. He now knows it is OK to not have all the answers; questions and doubts are permitted. He is eternally grateful to live in grace, and do what he can to move God’s story forward.”

The Middle Bit

Dear Brian, I started this blog a long time ago, but never did anything with it. I think we can use it for our "Inspired" book study.  I call it The Middle Bit because as a Christian, for me, "the middle bit" is the time since Christ's ascension but before His return. I see it as the time I spend on earth as I sojourn to my eternal destination, either before God calls me home or Christ returns. Granted "the middle bit" has already lasted over 2000 years, but in the light of eternity, a mere blink of an eye.

I look forward to our discussions as we both sojourn "The Middle Bit".