 |
The
Jabberwock,
as illustrated by John Tenniel |
….
"Beware
the Jabberwock, my son!
The
jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware
the Jubjub bird, and shun
The
frumious Bandersnatch!"
….
["Jabberwocky"
is a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll in his 1871 novel Through
the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There…(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jabberwocky)]
In
what area of your life are your actions governed by fear of what
others think? How could Jesus help you? (Serendipity Bible
10th Anniversary Edition, page 1360).
…it
has gotten to the point where a few people will say, in essence, “You
must emphasize these Scriptures, to the detriment of all others; and
if you don’t agree, then you’re not a good Christian.”….Each
of us has the sobering responsibility to study Scriptures and to come
to our own conclusions, through prayer and meditation, about God’s
mandates. This is religious freedom. (Through the Year with Jimmy
Carter, page 343).
Domineering
ideologues undercut the Gospel of Christ—the Good News is twisted
into oppression by (usually) a few dominant males. We are to
approach Scripture not with the myopic viewpoint of a few
Jabberwocks, but with the freedom that only the breadth of God’s
love can bestow. When we approach Scripture we should do so
prayerfully and with the love of God in our hearts, not with beady
eyes fixed on finding an excuse to subjugate others. My father was a
Methodist minister, and I will always be grateful for the sense of
reverence and freedom he bestowed. He never appropriated for himself
the role of having the final say about the truth of Scripture. He
would only smile and shake his head if anyone were to suggest that he
do so. I hope to live out fully my father’s approach in this
matter.
Those who practice domination are likely to be dominated themselves.
Print Page
