Sunday Sentiments

 Well, after all of my book talk in posts earlier this week, I decided to pull one from my to-be-read pile and start reading the thing. I have missed having/making time to read, and it's been delightful to add a chapter to the end of each of my days. 

The book I pulled from the shelf isn't new, but I've not read it before. It's actually a single volume collection of five novellas written by Francine Rivers. The full collection is called A Lineage of Grace, and each novella explores the life of one of the women named in Jesus' lineage. Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary are the five I'll be reading about. 

When I wrote my Advent book, I used some of the same techniques Francine used in writing her books. (Please do not misunderstand and think I'm comparing myself to the writer Francine is. Not true! She is gifted far beyond anything I could ever hope to achieve!) There is a bit of breath-catching to be done when trying to imagine how a person mentioned in the Bible might have felt or what they might have done. 

When I wrote my book, I chose that approach because I needed to remember (and hoped others would do the same) that the people in the Bible were just that: real people. They all grappled with the same emotions we do, even though the details surrounding their culture may have looked different from what we face. I always think there's a danger of imagining people from the Bible as super-special in some way, simply because they're mentioned in the Bible.

As I've been reading Francine's book, I'm reminded of that very principle. These women whose lives I'm exploring may or may not have experienced exactly what I'm reading about, but it's probably not too far fetched. And as the Bible says, there is nothing new under the sun. The challenges of those days are still the challenges of our days. We just have a lot more technology and a different way of life thrown in the mix.

We need to remember it, you know. 

We need to remember, when we open the pages of the actual Bible, that we are reading about actual people who have way more in common with us than it may first appear.

We're given these accounts to read (in part) so we can know we are not alone. 

I'm grateful for that in these days that feel overwhelming, uncertain, and at times - flat out frightening. I'm grateful for the lives I can explore in Scripture and the things I can imagine as I read. I'm grateful for writers like Francine who remind me of the true humanity of the men and women in the Bible and give me a new perspective as I study their lives. 

Think about that this week, as you do your own studying. See the people as the people they were. Imagine their emotions, hopes, fears, joys, and struggles. You might find more in common than you first thought!