Genesis

 I was thinking about how to write about things in a blog that you would teach in a class. So I was like, shoe, write that blog.

Alright then. If I was asked to teach on Genesis in the bible, first and foremost, what would be expected of me? First, one must have read it. And to be fair, and I am fair if I can be, even if fair to a fault, but how could that be!? You see, fairness to fault means passing the boundary line, and where does one pass it, at catching the other whose faults, as it were, are there to err. Hard to bear? Let's get back to Genesis.

It should be read and many times. With lots of explanatory notes. Notes and other works which are in the same vein. So all the Eve's and all the Noah's out there. Even if its turtles, all the way down!

All this because I just HAD to know about Lot's wife. Who gets turned into a "pillar of salt"? Is that even possible? Do these things ACTUALLY HAPPEN? I have believed in bilocation, do I believe in turning people into salt? Or shapeshifting!? 

That Genesis class got complicated, FAST.

It doesn't have to be that hard. Alright. Sure.

 But it does have to be thorough and well understood, and if that means learning about the experiences and witness of other cultures and traditions, well then the class is ready to be built because, luckily, the writers of Genesis think that their God is one, which means all men, everywhere, are under his very same self. 

Genesis 101

What seems to be true about these traditions, stories and myths is that there is a truth and there is an allegory, which was something I personally was happy to know early on. 

Allegory is simply a very neat way of showing something which is complex to human minds. A human mind, as you rightly know, is a world of its own. In order for all people to be able to grasp things as one, they need to see things that way, as one solid truth. That is why a prophecy becomes a story (a scroll) or a ruler becomes a ram, butting heads with others rulers. Names not included, because just like a liquor laden frat party, someones puking in toilet one, another has a girl in toilet 2, and so on....

What's complicated for believers and unbelievers alike is all that middle ground. In the middle is all the complicated truth. What we see is not actually what we get. A scroll is not a story, it is a representation of it. And the believer does not understand for the reader, either. So when one human sees a divine thing, he doesn't actually get to show that to the unbeliever. But the divine does help show and even aid understanding in the believer. This could be how we live our lives as well.

But if the unbeliever, not seeing, doesnt get the opportunity to see how the believer sees, the allegory looks strange and untrue. And it is another degree away from becoming understood. So that stories that are real look like myths, and the possible becomes impossible, without anyone explaing to anyone else why! This is how religion works. Yes, all religion. 

So will we ever know if Lot's wife was made into salt for real? It would be impossible to say. But one thing is certain, looking back was a terrible thing for her, and it still is. Even now, once we are saved, it would be salt!

Did Abraham spare his son's life for a purpose? Why did Jesus lose his life if Isaac did not? Why did Joseph end up in Egypt? How strange it all looks through our small human minds. But I said this earlier, and I thought it was really true. It is hard to take care of a whole world of people!

Happy New Year, coming up is more opportunities for us to grow in understanding and love for our Lord! I like to think that coming up with a Genesis 101 would be fun for the Nrw Year!!!!! Don't you???