The Bible

[Susan Peabody]

Dear Danna:

Sometimes when I ask God a question he prompts me to watch a movie and I get my answer. Today I'm watching a movie about a gay man who turns straight to be a Christian. He was in the seminary and the teacher told him if someone asks you what a Christian is he would say that we believe in the Bible as the word of God. My problem is that I don't believe it's the only word of God. And when I say this out loud people get upset. I think he has inspired other people to tell us things we need to know. Such books have helped me come to Christ and to heal from my addiction. So when someone says the Bible is the only important book then I get sad. And I realize that I'm not really a Christian. God is teaching me that I am unique. That I am a misfit and that's okay. Sometimes I get lonely and I want to be around other misfits. That's why I was so happy when I went to a gay Church.

I hesitate to be part of the Progressive Movement because it goes too far in the other direction. So for me I have to walk my own path even if it means I Walk Alone. The Holy Spirit is with me. She knows where I'm going. She knows how much I love Jesus. And she's there to comfort me in my sorrow. Back in grammar school I wanted so much to fit in. And I never did. The kids thought I was too fat or too intelligent or too bossy. And my inner child never got past this rejection. But the Bible says that when I was a child I thought like a child and I acted like a child and now it's time to put away childish things.

You don't have to answer this I just wanted to pour out my heart. I'm just going to put this in my journal and move on from the message board that I've been posting on. I also don't know why I don't want to go to church. Like Mother Teresa, I like being out in the field with the poor. So I'm going to continue to work toward helping my orphans and let that be enough. Take care.

[Susan Peabody]

It occurred to me that some people really need the Bible to feel close to God. They read his story and they understand what he wants. But other people have direct contact with God and they don't need the Bible to understand him because he explains himself. This is what I experience in meditation. I've been reading the Bible since I was a young child. And it's a masterpiece. It's just not the most important thing. The Holy Spirit, God, and Jesus is the most important thing. She's the one who came to me. When I pray I feel their presence. It washes over me like a warm summer's breeze and I know not whence it came or whither it goes, but I suppose it goes where love abides. That's the poem I wrote when my granddaughter died.

Jasmyne Marie Snyder

The scent of jasmine is in the air.
And I think of my precious grandchild.
Who lives in my heart forever.
Whose memory blows over me like a warm summer's breeze.
And I know not whence it comes or whither it goes.
But, I suppose, it does where love abides.