Freedom in Lent - Day 32

Some believers seem to think that faith is a closed system, a big block of truth to which we have to assent (or not, and bear the consequences for eternity). Our Scriptures, however, give us the freedom to explore, to ask questions of, to wrestle with, and to work out, our faith. There is no one easy answer to what it means to be a person of faith, there are multiple interpretations, even within our source texts. 

Refusing to allow questions of faith, deep questions, challenging questions, creates a culture of conformity, and at worst can lead to extremism, as it seems literal reading of our Scriptures often results in. Recognizing the contradictions, learning about the contexts in which various parts of our Bibles were written, realizing the interpretations that come with translation from the original languages of Greek and Hebrew, being willing to say that what was written then may well not apply now, asking why some of these stories have been passed along for a thousand generations, reading and discussing in community - all these things can lead us to a deeper understanding of our Scriptures and a deeper, broader, and more lively faith. 

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
   you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
   and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
   O Lord, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before,
   and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
   it is so high that I cannot attain it.

                                            Psalm 139.1-6