Walking With a Rabbi: The Origin of The Sacred

Yesterday I walked for 2 ½ hours with my friend who is a Jewish rabbi. We had a dynamic conversation from start to finish about life as he is a safe place to explore deep questions and beautiful insights. This is what you can expect when you walk with someone from inside the mysteries of life. 

A thought that arose from our walk is how scriptures are really for everyone. BUT, and this is a big BUT, it is imperative that a dynamic understanding of the scriptures be taught to actually understand them along with our dynamic world and reality. Too often people think they know what the bible is, and therefore have little experience with the dynamic relationship that exists in the space between the letters in connection with the space between our lives. 

Without going to the Origin of the Sacred, our source for our understanding is off.

The bible is a dynamic collection of books yet how it has been used or perceived carries a wide range of experiences. Whether it is those who have never opened it, those who think it outdated, those who make it an idol, those who learn from it, those who think it infallible, those who think it flawed, etc, the bible actually has a story for every possible perception against or for it. It has a story for every situation of your life when it is understood from within the text and context of your life. The text is a mirror into the context of our regular, or irregular, lives just as it can be a context for the deepest meanings of our souls.

I love that the spirit of those last three sentences is what my friend teaches, not in telling you what to think, but in creating the space to find yourself in the story. When you find yourself in the story, what the scriptures are are no longer lost on you. If you read that last sentence too fast you should sound like a pirate finding lost treasure. When you find yourself in the story, the word you need to hear has become flesh inside your story, which naturally connects you to the Origins of the Sacred in and around the entirety of your life

When you become aware of the Sacred, you actually become “biblical” in the best possible way. You start living from the original context where God, that three letter word people think is God’s name, now becomes a dynamic reality inside your experience. This reality spoke to a man named Moses when he was told to go on a mission to free some slaves. When Moses asked who he should tell them is the name of the one who sent him, “God” said,

“I AM WHO I AM.”

Then God said, “This is what you shall say to them: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” - Exodus 3:14 (Also translated, “I will be what I will be.”)

What a name!

It sounds alive and full of never-ending meaning and life. It sounds like a name that will meet us wherever we are. How does it sound to you?

I have seen some extremes with how the bible is perceived. Some use it to hurt and enslave, while others use it to heal. Sometimes it is hard for people to know the difference. I’ll never forget when “I AM” spoke to me early in my spiritual walk saying:

“You will find many teaching the bible as if what they are saying it says is true, yet it will be the exact opposite of what they are teaching.”

Have you ever noticed this?

For some we will be working backwards to get to the Origin and for others we will be working forward from the beginning. Either way, the end is known from the beginning and the beginning reveals the end. When we find ourselves in the in-between, the Origin of the Sacred is speaking and inviting us to understand. It will be what it will be for you as text opens us to our actual life today, at this very moment. 

After walking those 2 ½ hours with a rabbi, my hips are sore today. This reminds me of someone who once wrestled with an angel and came away with a sore hip but also with a revelation that changed his life. What would happen if you too could walk with a rabbi that actually teaches you how to enter the very text of your life and invites you to connect with the Origins of the Sacred? If you live in the Fargo area, you have this opportunity. 

Come and see.

-PH

If you go back over this article and string the bold words together, you will see the sentence it creates to discover a hidden message. This message is what is available in the space created when studying scriptures openly in the context of your own life. If you’d like to join in a scripture circle led by a rabbi, let me know.