Rape, murder, mutiliation: its the Bible!

Wow...my posts seem to be getting more and more sparse. It has been difficult recently trying to keep on top of everything, as I have lots going on, and as sad as it seems, this blog is just another victim, along with the countless relationships that have been put on hold! If you are one of the people who I rarely see anymore, my apologies-but know that I still think about you...unless I hate you! Only kidding!

Anyway, what has been going on? Well work has continued at a frightening pace. With weekends to organise, and the week to week business of spending time with young people. However, a few new and exciting things have happened in the last few weeks. Uppermost in my mind is a prayer event that we ran in the church. It was encouraging to see people drop in and pray for an hour or two in their own way. Several people asked what were we praying for, to which my reply was, 'we are just praying'. It is interesting that some still need to have reason to pray, and I understand this; as humans, many of us need to have a motive, a 'raison d'etre', behind all that we do. We often ask the question 'why do we do this' instead of just saying 'why not'! However, I feel it was a great start, yet an exhausting one for me, as I was there for around 27 hours!

Another new thing is an after school drop in that I have been working on. It is myself and another youth worker from the Glenavy Youth Project, as well as two young volunteers from church. We seem to attracting about a dozen young people every thursday, which is encouraging. However, it still needs work. It is great to give the volunteers the chance to really gain experience however, and for that, it is an exciting opportunity.

Life without Gail has been a struggle...sure we talk at night, but sometimes, when you have had a tough day, you just want to chill! I am a great believer in the beauty of companionable silence. I sometimes love to sit with s friend, or with Gail and just not have to feel the need to talk; to just enjoy each others company. However, when all you got is a phone call, its impractical to do that :(

Want to share a quick 'holy thought'. I was doing some research the other day for a talk. I found myself in Judges and was just reading aroung, when I came across Judges chapter 19. The gist of the story is about a Levite and his concubine. They travel and eventually come to a town where they are welcomed in by a man. Later that night, the men of the town come to the man's house and demand that they be allowed to have sex with the Levite. The man, afraid for his guest, instead offers his virgin daughter and the Levite's concubine. Refusing, the men keep demanding the Levite, until the Levite forces his concubine out. The men of the town gang rape her all night, and in the morning, she makes her way back to the house. The Levite goes to leave, and seeing her lying there, demands her to get up. When she doesn't respond he puts her on his donkey and travels to his home. When he arrives, he cuts her up into 12 pieces and sends them to the tribes of Israel, as a sign of what happened.

I was very shocked by the brutality of this story. But it reminded me that the Bible is a very shocking book, full of war, intrigue, death, rape, misfits, liars, terrorists, sacrifice, destruction of innocents, but yet, it is the book with which we recognise God speaks to us. How many of us have sat in a church and heard the story of Judges 19...yet here it is in our Bibles. And the story has much to say; about selfishness and the state of a nation, that resonates even today. In what society what it be acceptable to rape, murder and mutilate a woman? Until you turn on your TV and realise that it happens all the time. These stories, whilst shocking, can have a lot to say to us, here and now in the 21st century! It just saddens me that so many in the church (and I am guilty of this too, as I suspect we all are, consciously or not) pick and choose what they want to get out of the Bible. If we are going to accept the authority of scripture, then surely that includes even the passages that make us uncomfortable, or confused?

Well, I have rambled enough. Thanks for listening