I am not always good at following instructions. When I bought a new barbeque and realized to my horror that it came in bits, I was very grateful for the sheet of directions for assembly! The fact that the sheet also contained diagrams, really helped me as I am a very visual learner. The written words were sometimes a challenge because I think they had been translated from another language; so there were some strange phrases that were confusing.
Assembling that barbeque is like reading scripture; both can be a daunting task. The translation can sometimes be hard to understand for us living in the modern world. We cannot relate to a world of shepherds, warrior kings, desert prophets, slaves and unnamed women. The bible doesn’t come with diagrams, although we do have details of the dimensions of the Ark of the Covenant found in Exodus 25: 10-11: you could certainly draw a diagram from these details.
Reading the bible is a journey of discovery and C.S. Lewis advises us to “Look. Listen. Receive”. As we do this, the biblical story can then become our story. As we enter into the story of the Bible, we find God revealed there and are called to participate in this continuing story.
Dramatizing scripture can be one of the ways that helps us to enter the story and make it our own. For a visual learner like myself, it helps me to “see” the story. The “Act Out” group help to bring the biblical story alive through a dramatic interpretation and they will be preparing this Sunday with Don Gray. All ages are invited to be a part of this exciting journey of discovery.
This is not one of those “do not try at home” scenarios - we encourage you to try this at home! You could “act out” the bible stories with your children, grandchildren, nephews and nieces. Here is what one family did:-
Our family had fun one night with the story of Noah and the ark. We made a tent in the living room with sheets over chairs and tables. Then we brought in stuffed animals, pretend food, pillows, and a flashlight (to use as a lantern). We talked about how the "ark" was crowded and the work was hard and sometimes boring. We created scenarios of lions breaking through their gate and it needing repair before they ate the elephants. Every "morning" Japeth and Amelia had a difficult time waking "Daddy-Noah" from his slumber. Some things we wanted to discuss and created situations where that would be easy, other times the kids thought of events that might happen. Overall we wanted to highlight that Noah and his family were listening to God. Fun times
Hopefully “fun times” will be had this Sunday. Look forward to seeing you! Karen
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