My Word

I love word games - crosswords, code words, missing letters etc. etc.  Over the years, television has supplied us with a number of game shows involving words.  The one that has probably lasted the longest I think is Countdown, the daily words and numbers game.  People of my age will also remember programmes like Call My Bluff when three different definitions of a word are given and the opposing team has to guess the correct meaning.  My excuse for spending time on them, (if I need an excuse!) is that at my age, it helps to keep my mind active and ticking over.  Words are important, so much so that very often the first words of a baby are noted in a baby book and kept for posterity.  We use phrases like 'I give you my word' as a way of promising something or insisting that what we have said is true.  The words 'My Word' are used in exclamation to denote a certain amount of surprise or wonder.  


This week Richard Rohr, in his daily meditations has been talking about God's Word.  We think of God's Word as the Bible that we use today - the Old and New Testament.  Some Christians seem to be of the opinion that the Bible as we know it today is the sum total of God's Word.  (Roman Catholics have a larger Bible than Protestants as they include the books of the Apocrypha)  Some assume that if some story or word of wisdom is not in there then it's not part of God's Word.   We need to acknowledge that this Christian Sacred Text has not always existed.  So what happened before the existence of the Bible as we know it today, before the life of Jesus?  And of the Old Testament, what happened before Abraham or Moses?  Those who lived then, how did they know about God?  How did God make himself known to them?  Did he have nothing to say?


Richard Rohr quotes both Anthony of the Desert (251 - 356) and Thomas Aquinas (1224 - 1274) as saying that there are actually two books of Scripture, two books of God's Word.  The Bible is the second book being around for the last 2000 years or so.  The first book of God's Word is the natural world and has existed since the Big Bang 14 billion years ago.  In the first few verses of the Bible we read that God said ... ... .  He brought the whole universe into being by his word and yet we so often discard this expression of His Word in favour of the written word.  We think that God is 'contained' in the Bible.  He is but he is also much bigger than that.  Jesus so often used examples from creation to explain divine truths and we miss an awful lot of what God is saying and what he is like when we don't spend time contemplating his handiwork.  He first expressed himself in creation billions of years before humanity decided to put things in a book, long before the written word even existed.  Some would shy away from this saying it verges on paganism or New Age spirituality.  Yet Francis of Assisi wrote words that were translated and became known as the hymn 'All Creatures of our God and King'.  In the original he refers to creation as Brother Sun and Sister Moon, also referring to Brother Wind and Brother Fire and Sister Water and Mother Earth.  To this day he is revered for the way he saw God in creation.  The present Pope reminds us of this by taking his name to be known as Pope Francis.    


I can't help thinking that although it's good to read and know the Bible, it's not the whole story.  You can't contain God in a building nor can you contain him in a book.  As the children sing, 'My God is a great big God'.  There are so many expressions of him that we don't see when we are so intent in having our heads in a book.  There are so many lessons and truths that we miss when we think that it's all in 'the book'.  Richard Rohr expresses this sentiment when he says that each creature is a unique and distinct word of God with its own message.  Or as Meister Eckhart puts it so well, 'Anyone who truly knows creatures may be excused from  listening to sermons for every creature is full of God and is a book' - and he was of the Order of Preachers.  We refer to Jesus as The Word and say that The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  Before Jesus became flesh, God's Word became living creatures and plants.  He expressed himself in his creation.  When a person creates something, a picture, a piece of sculpture, some article of beauty or usefulness, they are expressing their thoughts and ideas in material or physical form.  You get an idea of them from their creativity.  And so God created the universe. If we look, observe and learn directly from what he has made we can learn so much about what he is like and what are his ways. He has great lessons and truth he wants to teach us if only we have eyes to see and ears to hear.