Soul Rhythms » Bible

My lasting image of marriage

yslamb — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:11:23 +0000

Two images of marriage grabbed my attention within hours of each other this week. The first was a picture of a couple whose marriage has endured for more than 80 years of significant world changes; the second was a picture of a newly married couple whose union is transforming the world as I know it.

I came across this first story Monday night while searching for something else on the Internet. It’s pretty remarkable – a black couple married for 85 years. That’s a world record and an accomplishment worthy of praise, given all the bad press about the state of the black family. Herbert and Zelmyra Fisher – 104 and 101, respectively – have been hanging in there with each other, through the good and the bad, since they married in their late teens. In 1924 when Calvin Coolidge was president.

The New Bern, N.C. couple, who have known each other since elementary school, have been in and out of the news for years. I missed their Valentine’s Day Twitter event, where they offered free marriage advice. A savvy granddaughter help set up the interesting Twitter cast.

They both agreed on what has kept them together for so many years: If you “put God first in your life, and love and sacrifice for your family … blessings will be bestowed upon you,” they told Jet magazine in 2006.

Their story conjured up memories of my parent’s marriage, which lasted 49 years until my mother’s death, and sparked fond recollections of an aunt and uncle who celebrated 68 years together in January. My husband and I are on a countdown to 27 years in May. These are the pictures of marriage that I most readily identify with, the ones that match the traditional biblical views I grew up with and still carry.

A different picture now is coming into the foreground.

When I picked up my morning newspaper from the kitchen counter yesterday, I saw the second image commanding the front page. Happiness and joy shone in the faces of the two men – with baby daughters in their arms - who were among the first gay couples to marry in the District of Columbia. For the first time on Tuesday, about a dozen gay couples were able to legally exchange marriage vows in Washington. Five other states also allow same-sex couples to marry.

D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty yesterday called the weddings “a great step forward for equality.” A minister who officiated at the ceremony of two women declared, “Today, your love for each other knows no limits. It is free.”

I have been following the news story about the D.C. Council’s trek to same-sex marriages with growing interest for some time, and have read numerous blogs and commentaries on the subject. The history-making event ended a long battle for gay activists. I have mixed emotions about this because I know and care about people who would benefit from this change – if they choose to – who would be beaming like the guys in the photo on their own wedding day. I understand that we all want love and happiness.

However, it is difficult to look at the second picture of marriage without my filters popping up. My lens is colored by my belief in the Bible as the Word of God, which says marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman. The world is changing; marriage is changing. But God’s word does not change; it remains the same today as it did a century ago.

What do you think?

A victory for same-sex marriage in D.C.

Loving my Blackberry Bible

yslamb — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:21:55 +0000

My Blackberry, a so-called Smartphone, just got better. It drew me deeper into the intersection of technology and faith, and I I am loving it. While exploring my Blackberry applications for the first time since I purchased the phone nearly five months ago, I came across a free app for the Bible. I downloaded it, and now I have easy and ready access to Scriptures wherever I go.

Yes, I could carry one of my paper-bound Bibles with me all the time, but I don’t outside of taking one with me to church and on out-of-town trips. Now in the palm of my hand are several different versions of the Scriptures and a new connection, if I want it, to a community of people who also find the Bible relevant to their daily lives. I decided to read The Message Bible on my Blackberry; it’s a modern vernacular Bible version that I do not have at home. I have several versions of the printed Bible, including the African American Heritage Bible and my trusty King James Version.

Over the years, I have often used the Internet to search for and research Scriptures. One of my favorite online places is www,Biblegateway.com, which has been an enormous help when I have had to prepare to teach Bible studies or conduct women’s retreat workshops. I could quickly read several different versions of the same Scripture, from King James to the New International Version to the Amplified version, to better understand what was being said. I also found useful commentaries there.

But I wasn’t thinking about having a mobile Bible until I stumble upon the YouVersion.com Bible for my Blackberry. I really was looking for a free Scrabble app, but I am delighted I found the Bible. So now instead of playing a game on my Blackberry, or crackberry as it is jokingly called, I can read Scripture while waiting at the doctor’s office, in a restuarant or in a long line somewhere.

When I noticed that I also would be able to follow a one-year through the Bible reading plan, I had a flashback to more than 30 years ago. I was newspaper reporter in Tampa and became fast friends with a hotshot television reporter. We shared lots of good meals and greats laughs together and discovered that we both loved the Lord. One Christmas, Peggy gave me my first One Year Bible and launched me a on journey through the entire 66 books. There were some fits and starts along the way but I completed it. Peggy, now a journalism professor, and I continue to share our love for the Word every chance we get. She always reminds me of what a sustaining and calming presence the Word of God is in her hectic life.

As I move forward with my new mobile Bible, I do so knowing the Word of God is same now as it was more than 30 years ago. To reap any benefits from this new technology, I have to click on it and read it as often as possible. My Blackberry as a productive tool increases in value for me every time it allows me to connect to my faith in hectic times like these.

”Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Psalm 119: 105 (KJV)

“By your words I can see where I’m going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path.” Psalm 119:105 (The Message)

Deepening faith through spiritual direction

yslamb — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:39:22 +0000

There was a time when I felt bereft of spiritual direction, even though I was attending church and was surrounded by other Christians. Some of the Bible studies I attended didn’t seem to connect to the real-life concerns crowding my mind. A couple of things change that for me. After encountering a woman with a beautiful spirit at a meeting, I became active in an intercessory prayer ministry that involved people from several churches and began praying more consistently and intentionally. Though prayer, my faith journey has found new avenues of adventure.

Also, I began having more conversations with spiritually-grounded friends who helped me find answers to some of my questions and clarity for some of my concerns about my spiritual growth. Along the way one friend, who then-worked at the Shalem Institute in Bethesda, Md., told me about a course that might help me discern what I felt God was calling me to do in the world. I read about the course on spiritual direction in several Shalem newsletters, researched the topic on the Internet and put it on my list of things I would like to do. Since then, I have been enriched by attending events sponsored by Shalem, which offers programs, it says, to people “who want to open themselves more fully to God in their daily lives and work.”

Spiritual direction is one that I may still do. My interest has been aroused again by a story a friend emailed me this week. The Philadelphia Inquirer article reports that spiritual direction is “an ancient practice with Christian roots that has recently seen a revival among contemporary seekers from all faiths, including some who don’t necessarily believe in God.” It is well worth the read.

Also take a look at the video Shalem posted on its site from one of its spiritual direction graduates that offers more insight into this practice.

In my own quest for spiritual direction, I am constantly seeking guidance from the ultimate Source. I know that the more I listen to God, the better directions I will acquire for living my best life. I just have to follow them. I also know that God does speak through others to help us along our journey.

Good news amid bad

yslamb — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:27:43 +0000

I went to sleep last night asking myself why I spent the moments before rest watching the news. I know it’s better to read the Bible or another faith-renewing book before retiring for the evening.

But the news junkie yet in me was drawn to the local broadcast, which as usual was depressing and filled with human tragedy, political conflict and weather disasters. I told myself this morning that I would have a news-free day. That didn’t last long. While I did not turn on the television, I did fire up my computer.

Fortunately for me, the first story to pique my interest was one on the AOL home page showing the face of the young black man with the headline “‘He Didn’t Tell Anybody’; Secret This Man Kept Nearly Changed His Life.”

The story gave me new hope and showed that it doesn’t take a lot of time to make a big difference in someone’s life. It just takes a willingness to do something when the moment presents itself.

I like what campus minister Jason Speier said: “Every person has influence on a certain amount of people. We just wanted to use the influence to do something good.”

With more consistency, I’m going to try to do just that.

What about you? Are you using your influence to do something good for someone else today?