Legally Rambling (January 9, 2010). I sit in the Wright Library another night. Cold. Quiet. Still. At 42, I am full of wonder, but tired after a five hour partner meeting. Looking forward to the blank screen. Kinda like the blank page - full of possibility!
I am at my heart a natural Jeffersonian. I always have been since my youth. Captivated by books, art, cooking, conversation, the stars, animals, gardening ... the greater world around us. I remain amazed by God's creation. Even with evil in the garden, you have to admit that it is still truly wonderful. An amazing and beautiful place. I still believe its a world filled with angels and miracles. I have witnessed a great many.
I have been collecting books since I was a little kid. And, one of the benefits of my recent divorce is that I now have my book life back. Time for reading and quiet reflection. And recently, I have been doing a lot of thinking about miracles and the gift of prophecy. Perhaps it's my Italian roots calling to me or an echo of a gift my mother possessed. But, on some level it reminds me that God is here active in this world. Still moving through the garden. Whispering to those who are willing or called to listen.
I have been a student of Jefferson since a little kid. However, one of the things that always disturbed me about Jefferson was the Jefferson Bible. My grandmother and I would often debate this book. If you are not aware of the Jefferson Bible, it begins with an account of Jesus’s birth without references to angels, genealogy, or prophecy. Miracles, references to the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus, and Jesus' resurrection are also absent from the Jefferson Bible. I know why he made the edits and I know it was never formally published during his life, but it also makes me sad even if it's a pure moral code.
Why does it make me sad? Because Jefferson took out all the wonder and for me the hope. Case in point, the Jefferson Bible ends with the words: “Now, in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus. And rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.” Think about it - it ends there! No miracle, no resurrection, no hope for the future. He missed it - the main point, he missed why Christ was sent and what it was all about! The true miracle!
The book never sat well with me, because even as a young man I have been witness to extraordinary things. I always wondered was Jefferson not blessed with these experiences or did he intellectually try to explain them away. For the great gardener was God active in his world or not? And, for all of his immense gifts was he missing the most important one of all!
In this life and in all things ... Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam and Ramble On!
I am at my heart a natural Jeffersonian. I always have been since my youth. Captivated by books, art, cooking, conversation, the stars, animals, gardening ... the greater world around us. I remain amazed by God's creation. Even with evil in the garden, you have to admit that it is still truly wonderful. An amazing and beautiful place. I still believe its a world filled with angels and miracles. I have witnessed a great many.
I have been collecting books since I was a little kid. And, one of the benefits of my recent divorce is that I now have my book life back. Time for reading and quiet reflection. And recently, I have been doing a lot of thinking about miracles and the gift of prophecy. Perhaps it's my Italian roots calling to me or an echo of a gift my mother possessed. But, on some level it reminds me that God is here active in this world. Still moving through the garden. Whispering to those who are willing or called to listen.
I have been a student of Jefferson since a little kid. However, one of the things that always disturbed me about Jefferson was the Jefferson Bible. My grandmother and I would often debate this book. If you are not aware of the Jefferson Bible, it begins with an account of Jesus’s birth without references to angels, genealogy, or prophecy. Miracles, references to the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus, and Jesus' resurrection are also absent from the Jefferson Bible. I know why he made the edits and I know it was never formally published during his life, but it also makes me sad even if it's a pure moral code.
Why does it make me sad? Because Jefferson took out all the wonder and for me the hope. Case in point, the Jefferson Bible ends with the words: “Now, in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus. And rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.” Think about it - it ends there! No miracle, no resurrection, no hope for the future. He missed it - the main point, he missed why Christ was sent and what it was all about! The true miracle!
The book never sat well with me, because even as a young man I have been witness to extraordinary things. I always wondered was Jefferson not blessed with these experiences or did he intellectually try to explain them away. For the great gardener was God active in his world or not? And, for all of his immense gifts was he missing the most important one of all!
In this life and in all things ... Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam and Ramble On!
Ramble On!
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