Jack Pelham

They lean so hard on their surrogate certainties,
Putting their faith wherever they may
To keep at bay the vexing question―
That destroyer of worlds―
That unsettler of minds―
That upsetter of apple carts.

Somehow, he had gotten the idea
That he was using his own brain
To do his own processing
Of the things he would discuss.

It was his chiefest aim in life
To be like everyone else,
By which he most certainly did not mean
Those who are unlike everyone else,
But only those who are like everyone else.

Deep thinking is so uncommon in today’s churches that the one who is doing it will seem quite the misfit. The one trying to understand how all the Bible details were to fit together―the one trying to make sure the doctrines are right―the one who wants to mine the depths of God’s precepts and principles―the one trying to connect the dots between passages―the one willing to examine himself to see whether he is actually in the faith, and willing to examine the church institution in the same way―the one constantly asking questions of the texts and of his friends―this person will not long be welcome.

One danger with giving generous quarter to investigation is that one might well chance upon a truth here or there that he is not willing to admit into his beliefs.

On the road to Repentance,
One happens upon the sort who will
Praise him for being on that way,
Declaring what an inspiration it is
To see someone turning it around―
And overcoming oppression―
And making something of himself.

They can’t seem to settle on the best reason
To do the right thing.

Some say it is so that you won’t get in trouble.

There is a huge difference from one human to the next
Regarding how serious we are about sin.
And there is a huger difference still in this regard
Between the best of us and God.

If it’s true as he says―that he knows that
He has not studied it deeply,
And that he has quite a limited view,
And could well be wrong in what he’s about to say―
Then why in the world is the fool venturing
To say on?

Reading the Bible is somewhat like looking into Harry Potter’s Mirror of Erised. That is, the actual meaning of the content aside, people tend to see in it what they want to see.

I don’t mean to suggest that it’s a magical book, designed to yield up a different content to each reader or listener. Rather, I’m talking about a phenomenon of the human mind itself, and not of the texts―a phenomenon that the reader brings with him to the text, and through which his interpretation and/or understanding of the text is influenced.