In the beginning..

Genesis 1: 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.”

John 1: 6 God sent a man, John the Baptist, 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. 9 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

The light preceded the sun, and John the Baptist preceded the Son. That’s how it was written, and those verses will be the foundation for every jot and tittle of analysis, speculation, reaction, and investigation of the Bible which follows.

It is about the Light- the Light that preceded everything that followed (in the Genesis account), and the Light that precedes every person who follows it (in the gospel of John).  I’ll be looking for understanding and knowledge about God, and (be warned) I don’t mind at all treading on the edges of human intellectual limitations, especially my own.

But, most particularly, this study will be about following the Light whom John the B was announcing: Jesus. It will never be about discovering doctrine. It will never be about proclaiming, establishing, or defending dogma. The Bible was written by humans as they reacted to their environment and to the Mysteries of that environment. They used the best tools they had available to them at those times to do that: their eyes, minds, and imaginations. The Truths they discerned were part of the foundation for all the Truths which subsequent generations have discovered, using a continually growing repertoire of other tools.

I choose not to relegate all that I might discover about God to a box that is no larger than my personal and immediate ability to think. I choose not to follow Jesus in the footsteps of those who have turned his Light into thermometers and yardsticks and billy clubs.

I do choose to use my own eyes, mind, and imagination, along with the recorded words, telescopes, microscopes, sacred writings, speculations, poetry, criticism, and behavior of others- including the birds of the air and the lilies of the field- to do what I am intending to do here.

That said, watch this space. I’ll begin, with regularity -after the weekend- to share whatever Light I’ve been finding,  with this part of the Continuing Creation.