There’s an app for that… and a scripture…

Back in the 2010’s, when cell phones really started being smart, the phrase going around was “there’s an app for that”. And even then, when there were so many fewer apps than we have today and they did far less of what we needed, you could find an app for just about anything you could think up. These days there are so many different versions of each type of app and so many different apps for so many different things we couldn’t have imagined a decade ago, it is hard to keep up. But back when that phrase was first bantered around, I was getting what I refer to as “the cliff notes version, on steroids”, of the scriptures. While I was raised going to church, I tended to be able to answer questions in Sunday School because I could memorize things easily, not because I understood the concepts in depth. But now I was starting my Pilgrimage and while I didn’t recognize it then, I’ve since realized, much like many other areas of my life, I needed to throw out my unstable foundational understanding and start to learn the real version so I could build a strong and firm foundation that I could build on to create a much bigger and better life. Much like you can’t build a house that can withstand a crazy Nor Easter or monsoon if you don’t build it solidly from the ground up, I needed to re-learn a lot of what I relied on to navigate life. So, back to the spiritual part – I needed to learn what was actually contained in the scriptures and what it meant to me specifically and about life in general.

I gained my new understanding in two ways. The first was that I would wake up about 1:30am every night and be awake for about two hours. At first I spent the entire time struggling to get back to sleep. As it kept occurring, I decided to be productive if it was going to keep happening. I’m not sure why I chose scriptures to read at that time, but I did – and, I read them on a small iPhone 4+ screen! I don’t know if it was just where I was in life or the quiet of the night or what, but my eyes were opened to so many truths I’d never understood before (and hurt like crazy from squinting at that teeny screen). As time has passed, I’ve also been able to see myself in the stories, so much so that I can use the ideas to better navigate my own Pilgrimage and not get too down during really hard experiences. I know religion has been used countless times to subjugate other people, but its true purpose was never for that, not even close – that is why Martin Luther and the printing press were so important – it took the scriptures, which contain The Gospel (aka the Good News) and only “the church” had access to and gave them to the people, making it so individuals could gain their own understanding of the possibilities available to them and a more enlightened version of life.

The second way I learned was by finding these incredibly visual and informatic books that detailed what life was life in the Old and New Testament times so I could SEE what the stories really were about. I remember I had this very large, thick book on the O.T. and I would sit on the step stool in the bathroom while J splashed around in the tub, reading the stories to him and showing him the pictures. While I still hadn’t recognized that learning visually was the best way for me, having background and pictures of the land and life of the people in that area was yet again, eye opening. As you learn to engage better with life, it will be far more enjoyable if you understand how you best take in information so you can gain knowledge without it feeling like work.

On a side note, I was fortunate to learn another great thing. I remember while I was reading in the Book of Ruth (O.T.), that it was only four chapters and I wondered if I was missing some big meaning because I didn’t understand their actions and ways of speaking, so I got on the website of a university I knew that had an Ancient Scripture department and I looked for a woman professor because I figured if anyone had focused on Ruth, it might be a female. And what happened next is part of what I love about life and the universe putting things in your path when you’re being true to yourself. It’s like you not only do you get what you need, but you get some awesome version of it, just for you. Who would have guessed that this professor was actually writing a book about the female characters of the O.T.?!?! Not only that, she asked me if I wanted to proof her chapter on Ruth! I was blown away. It was such an incredible moment, one that still sticks out to me. When I was done reading her chapter, which did help me better understand what was going on in those chapters, I asked her if I was going to need to take a few history or language courses so I could get the true meaning out of all scriptures. And bless her, she gave me the best bit of advice – she said that the whole reason her department existed was so that the rest of us didn’t have to take those classes, but could gain the knowledge from those that had done all the hard work. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you’re supposed to follow other’s understanding of scripture all the time, but more along the lines of utilizing those that have made it their vocation to understand different aspects of things so you can gain a better understanding yourself, and not just in religious aspects, but in anything you want to learn about. I can still learn from other people’s ideas on different subject matter, even those with opposing views, as long as they are really informed and not just following their social media feed, and this ends up giving me a more full view. And much like I found when I read other books from this same professor, I’ve found people from different religions whose words seem to resinate with me, so I follow them to get this expanded view. And each of those books, blogs, podcasts, or videos come to me in random ways and are right on the money because the timing is right when I’m ready for the knowledge and I haven’t set out to find the info in some die hard search which meddles with the natural order of things occurring.

But! Back to there’s an app for that. A few years ago, I’d gotten to the point where people started referring to me as a bible scholar, which I have vehemently tried to deny, because I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface, but I did realize that I started using the phrase, “There’s a scripture about that” more often because I’d find myself in any number of conversations and right in the middle of talking, I’d realize that there really was a scripture that fit the situation. This is when the idea that gospel truths, wherever they are found, are meant to help us along our Pilgrimage, if we allow them to come to us naturally and at the right time and approached them with an open mind and new perspective. Oh, and there’s a scripture about that 🙂 but I’ll let you come upon it on your own, because, as you know, I’m a firm believer in wUpiiwUgo, everything is everything, and timing as well (and there’s a post about that!).