|
|
|
| Seeing the Scrolls"When the Bible is read in the community of believers, it is used by the Spirit to bring God's calling alive for us. What we call the Bible's 'inspiration' is its capacity to be the vehicle of the Holy Spirit, making Jesus vividly present to our minds and hearts, and so making his challenge and invitation immediate for us." -- Rowan Williams It was a very memorable experience to visit the Dead Sea Scrolls with so many of you! I entered in the vicinity of Bill H., who shared how the discovery and study of the scrolls intersected with his own life history. While watching the video about current preservation efforts (which involved a needle, thread, and a special kind of mesh), I turned to Kym and Jo C., who are both talented seamstresses, and exclaimed, "They're making quilts!" As we navigated the crowds, I gave thanks for the kindness of those of you who were pushing wheelchairs, and the patience of those of you who were riding in them. When I departed the museum, I shared Aimee and Paul K.'s delight at the discovery that a scribal error had once changed the height of Goliath! And all along the way, I enjoyed literally bumping into all of you. We were so engrossed in what we were seeing and hearing that we sometimes failed to notice where we were going! I became immersed in visualizing the copyists of 2000 years ago, seated cross-legged on the floor, holding their parchment or papyrus in their laps, and dipping their pens into ink wells perched on the low bench in front of them. I was intrigued to learn that Isaiah was such a popular book, and that scripture text was often interspersed with commentary and interpretation. I wondered whether the multiple copies of the collection of Psalms might actually have been something like hymnals or prayer books. I pondered what might have happened to the people who hid such an amazing library of scrolls in desert caves, and then never came back to retrieve them. I was amazed at the incredible amount of work invested by all the people who collected, pieced together, translated, and have studied the scrolls --- and the work goes on! The Dead Sea Scrolls are the oldest copies by far of the texts that make up our Bibles. Seeing them is a great reminder of how our Bibles came to be as they are today: over the centuries, people have written, copied, organized, translated, recopied, reorganized and translated again documents that they understand to have great spiritual significance. If it were not for the devotion of many who have gone before us, we would not be able to hold the scriptures in our own hands today. We are the inheritors of an amazing gift: we can read the Bible any time we want to, either in book form or on a computer screen, because a long time ago some people with a special skill (reading and writing) were moved to spend their lives copying and keeping safe the holy word. We are indebted also to scholars and translators who compare the different copies of the oldest texts in order to determine the most "authentic" form and meaning. The Bibles we read today are the end result of a collaborative effort stretching very far back in time! The last phase of the exhibit made me want to take up "scripture copying" as a spiritual discipline! Scribes and artists in some places around the world are still undertaking to create handwritten copies of sacred scripture -- even "illuminated" copies illustrated in vivid colors. I wonder if writing out words from the Bible might help the writer to absorb the words in greater depth or with greater clarity. I think I might try it. Maybe you, too, will experiment with writing out the words of a favorite passage and making them look as beautiful as possible, or even creating an imaginative border around what you have written. I might start with these words, which the apostle Paul often used in his letters:
Pastor April |
|
|
