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The Bible is worth another look, if you still have questions about the messages it portrays.

Sometimes people ask me for a copy of the Bible. That’s not a problem. I’ve given away a fair share of them.

A bigger challenge than getting hold of a Bible, however, is figuring out how to read it. Many people start with the best of intentions only find that somewhere around, say, page 60 out of roughly 1,000 (depending on the version; the one I have at my elbow at the moment has 1,004 pages, but the versions vary a lot), their resolve breaks down.

At that point in the Bible (the later part of what is called Exodus), lists of laws begin to show up. Some of them are off-putting in their apparent severity. And in the sections of the Bible that follow there are violent episodes that also can be hard to deal with. So, people give up.

In a one page guide I have for reading the Bible, I say this. Don’t start at the beginning. Start with one of the four accounts of Jesus’ life, preferably the one called Luke, named after its author. Then proceed to Acts, which is the story of the early church, and also happens to be written by Luke. So, together, those two “books”, as they are known, comprise a great narrative-infused-with-teachings that will get you off to a good start.

For today, though, I am thinking about another starting point. There is a collection of poems and prayers in the middle of the Bible called Psalms. They are about 2,600 years old. I call them “unfiltered poems and prayers.” That’s because many of them are written by people whose lives were in danger and whose enemies were ready to cut them down (literally). Their stresses and anxieties are not filtered out but are often front and centre. The writers frequently ask God to protect them in armed combat and to do away with their enemies.

Of course, leaving revenge in the hands of God is the best place to leave it. That is because God is likely to have greater patience with, and love for, your mortal enemies and your critics than you have. And we should take special note of this: desire for revenge ultimately gets the kibosh from Jesus – which you will already know if you read Luke :).

Anyway the first of those poems, Psalm 1, is a different kind of place to start than one of the accounts of Jesus’ life. When I call it a poem, I mean that it is a highly structured composition written to drive home a profound insight.

The poem presents what biblical scholars call the wisdom of the two paths.

A few telling lines:

Blessed is the one whose delight in the law of the Lord / and who meditates on his law day and night. /

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, / which yields its fruit in season...

Not so the wicked! / They are like chaff that the wind blows away...

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, / but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

The two paths are clear. And the profound insight the writer means to communicate is in relation to the two paths. The insight is threefold. I’ll try to describe it.

First he (almost certainly the writer was male) wants his community to be alert, to be aware. Recognize that your life is in danger. There are forces, people, and influences that can make it go seriously off the rails. Don’t be sleepy about this.

Translating this into today’s world is not difficult. If we think that doing all kinds of things, especially in our early years, without an regard for consequences, is a joke, we need to think again. A few examples: Watch out who you hang around with. If the person (or people) you spend time with thinks it is normal to take illegal drugs, get drunk on weekends, or wait for everyone else to solve his or her problems, then think hard about where that friendship can take you.

You might decide that it is ok to sleep in regularly rather than show up on time for class or work. Or you might find yourself often lying, talking trash about your parent or parents, or telling other people “what you really think of them” instead of reigning in your emotions and thoughts.

All such behaviours are off limits according to the Bible and according to Christian (and Jewish) tradition. They will get us nowhere. If we follow them long enough, our lives will become meaningless. It’s like the “chaff” in the quote above. Chaff is the left over stuff made up of the bits and pieces from harvested grain. There’s nothing to it. It’s weightless. The wind blows it away.

Second, the writer wants his community to be aware of the path of living life as it should be lived. The person who works on being trustworthy, gracious, courageous, diligent, patient, sober and cautious with his or her sexuality – that person can expect to live well.

That is the kind of path over which “the Lord watches.” By that, I believe, the writer means that that is the kind of life that God preserves, guards and protects. It is the kind of living that brings soundness to personal life and to family and community.

The projects that that person attempts will almost certainly go well, or, at least they will go much better than if the person does not embark on a life of honesty and integrity. If that person attempts to become educated, to build a career, to raise children, to found a business, he or she will most likely succeed. Their life will be like a healthy, fruitful tree because it is watered by wisdom.

So — and this is the third thing — chose the path that is going to work.

Of course, a great question is whether such a life can be lived without reference to faith, God, Jesus Christ, the church and so forth. Possibly. Possibly.

But this brings us to the question of the context for living a life as it should be lived. Can such a life be lived without a tradition of faith, without trust in a loving creator, without recourse to a steady diet of sound instruction for life, without acknowledgement of sin, repentance, and renewal through God, and without an enduring community of prayer and hope? And without thoughtful exposure to the Bible which is the primary vehicle for all of that? Possibly. But, I would say, not very plausibly.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.