Lent Devotion 12

I am a great one for reading, especially fiction. I am almost always immersed in a good novel. I just finished Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children. Recently I faced an interesting challenge in my personal life. It was something that I had not dealt with before. I was considering what approach to take to the unfamiliar situation. Suddenly, I knew exactly what to do. The course of action was perfectly clear. AND I knew that this solution came from a novel I had read recently. The character was in a certain situation and responded. That response was perfect for what I was facing.

It is seldom that I see such a direct connection between fiction and my choices in life. However, I have always maintained that good fiction is good for us. If I were an English teacher, I could give you an articulate explanation about why that is so. Since I am not an English teacher, I just trust what I know from my experience. Fiction helps you live your life, it helps you understand yourself and teaches you about the world. So, give me a good novel any time!

As I contemplated the wonderful solution that I appropriated from the novel, I thought about the importance of fiction. And that led me to think about the Bible. As scripture, the Bible is important to our faith and tradition. The Bible contains many different kinds of literature. The Bible tells us much about ancient times. The Bible helps us understand one people’s experience of God in its various manifestations. But when it comes down to it, we really don’t know and can’t know about the factuality of most of the Bible. If there were security cameras in Galilee and Jerusalem over 2000 years ago, we might be able to factually verify some things. But that is not a possibility. So when it comes to the factuality of the Bible, for the most part, we don’t know.

Does the lack of empirical verification of the stories and writings of the Bible mean that they are of no value? That they are of no worth? That they don’t matter? That they can’t be trusted? Of course not. In fact, maybe the most important things we need to know and understand can’t be contained in nonfiction writing, but have to conveyed in fiction. [Does Salman Rushdie think this?] In any case, I love, value, and appreciate literature and specifically fictional literature. In light of that, I can say that whether or not the Bible is fact, I love, value and appreciate it. The Bible has many truths to tell. It enhances our understanding of ourselves, humanity, and life. It is filled with timeless insight and wisdom. It shows us the best and the worst of human behavior and how to navigate the waters between the two. The Bible gives me hope.

For me, to think of the Bible as fiction in no way devalues or demeans this sacred text. In fact, it adds to my trust and reverence for the Bible.

Prayer: God’s word comes to us in many ways. From the lips of a loved one. In the song of a stranger. In the cry of a baby. In the chirping of birds and in the beauty of the natural world. We can also hear God speaking in literature. In fiction. And in non-fiction. May we be open to the God’s word; hungry for wisdom, self understanding, and peace. Amen.