Is the Bible a Fun House Mirror?

If you thoughtfully read the Bible, you eventually realized that either these books are really messed up, or a lot of us are really messed up. The books of the Bible themselves attest to the latter. Repeatedly, they give examples of whole populations going astray while the truth of God remains constant. The scriptures themselves state that they are a mirror.  We can see ourselves, individually and as a culture, as much more flawed than we'd like to believe. We have to decide, then, whether the Bible provides an accurate reflection or whether it is a warped fun house mirror displaying distorted images.

I see so much truth and wisdom in the descriptions of myself and others throughout the scriptures, I would be a hypocrite if I dismissed the moments when they portray me as selfish, greedy, ungrateful, or otherwise sinful and needy.

Just something to "reflect" upon!

H.O.T. Holding Onto Thoughts

I feel like a trout in a quick current. Information and thoughts rush past me and disappear downstream.  I hope they're collecting in some big pool where I can investigate them later when life slows down, but I'm pretty sure they're just getting buried under layer upon layer of old information sediment. They decompose into raw materials that may re-emerge in the circle of thought life, either my own or someone else's. Maybe that time they'll be caught and made into a satisfying mental meal that helps sustain sustain someone. Maybe rare elements will be smelted from them and used to improve a lot of people's lives or honor God in some way.

I suppose that if my thoughts aren't helpful to people or honoring to God, it's just as well that they get buried and disintegrate in the dark. Still, I wonder how many diamonds in the rough slip into the muck of forgetfulness.

Once in a while, I have a thought that I think might have potential for becoming worthwhile. Let's see whether I can post them in this blog before they disappear. Maybe my kids will find and benefit from them someday. I'll designate them as "Holding Onto Thoughts" topics. H.O.T. topics! Ha! They'll probably be far from culturally hot topics. Lately, I've been noticing that the things that we need to think about the most have been made to feel slow and boring by the flash, glitz, and speed of all the other messages and presentations vying for our attention (the spinners and other artificial baits trying to hook us?).

I had a H.O.T. thought that prompted me to start this post, but it's gone now. However, I'll be ready for the next juicy morsel that drifts through my mental feeding window (a term known to trout anglers and fisheries biologists)!