Occasionally, I forget the power and reach of CNN for people to share their thoughts with me. Then strangers and family members remind me.
I already knew, from previous week’s posts, that my brother wasn’t the biggest fan of Paul’s letters. My cousin Dave later piled on. He told me that Paul sentences run on too long.
That sent me back to the Bible. Why did I like Paul so much? Was I wrong? Those questions, in turn, led me to think more broadly about this project.
First of all, I am going to miss reading the Bible and then writing about it. It was a time for me to think about my faith in this chaotic world. This project was only supposed to last 52 weeks, but morphed into 52 posts over almost two years.
The good book has accompanied me all over the world in that time and there was something comforting about that. And I am guilty of procrastinating the last few weeks in putting off the posts to extend it a little more.
Secondly, I am going to miss sitting in church listening to Scripture readings and then having a “revelation.” That would lead me to pulling out my phone to take notes (My family will be happy to not witness that distraction when the project ends.) Of course, I can still have those revelations, but there will be no urgency to recording my thoughts, so I can write about them later.
I’m going to miss how the Bible informs the religious traditions around me. On Purim, a Jewish holiday, I smile when I am offered Hamantaschen cookies. Something as simple as that, I know understand thanks to this project. Or during Mass, I finally know what “Under my roof” means.
I like Paul for a different reason. I realized that I already knew him, but hadn’t been paying attention. His writings have been portions of Mass my whole life. The letters emphasize faith. But I never really understood the whole letters and their purpose.
I flew through the end of the Paul letters, Titus, the Letter to Hebrews, and into the “Catholic Letters” of James, Peter, John and Jude. My Bible describes the “Catholic Letters” as universal letters — meaning to everyone was getting in the act of spreading the word.
All the letters were consistent with what Paul wrote about: building faithful communities. As usual, I thoroughly enjoyed the reading.
In James, the Bible reads, “you have no idea what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a puff of smoke that appears briefly and then disappears. Instead you should say, “If the Lord wills it, we shall live to do this or that.” (James 4:14-15)
To me, that is the best summary of the fleeting lives we lead. It felt like another bit of knowledge that will stay with me at even the most stressful times.
And another favorite I will take forward is a simple summary of the action of faith. It’s found in Letter to the Hebrews to show the importance of the history of the Old Testament in this new faith.
“Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)
When I read that, I felt like I was one of the people that needed a reminder on what is really is faith. It struck chord with me. Through these two years, my faith has been strengthened.