This
week my sister and I went to the theatre; we saw a wonderful production of
Romeo and Juliet.
There
were a few scenes that caught us off guard, however, as the staging brought to
light some things that we had either not seen before, or had not thought of it
in that way. (One example was in the allusion to the death of Benvolio; another
in presenting the apothecary as a plague doctor).
During
our journey home, as we discussed the performance (recognising we are not
Shakespeare scholars!) we mentioned a few times about what we liked, and what
we'd either missed in previous readings, forgotten about, or simply hadn't
thought about it that way before.
I
wonder how often these questions would arise if we were to consider the
scriptures with such enthusiasm and intention? How many nuggets of
interpretation and comprehension might be found by simply taking our time to
read carefully the text, trying to put ourselves into the story to better make
their teachings come to life for us?
In
the past few weeks, preaching on the parables of Matthew, I have been trying to
re-read these messages form the lens of "What have I not noticed
before?" In the parable of the sower, why is the attention on the seeds
and the soil, instead of on the extravagant sower? In the weeds and wheat
parable, why would a farmer allow poisonous weeds to permeate the family's
foodstock, convinced that it was an act of conspiracy? In the Kingdom of heaven
parables, why do we not focus on the intended audience of the kingdom, rather
than the plethora of analogies?
The
questions continue, but the practice is what stays with me. It's a starting
point for personal reflection, group discussion, bible study. When we read the
scriptures, especially those that are familiar to us, we are being invited to
seek out the new learnings, the new ideas, the new AH-HA! moments. For there is
always opportunity to find something new, if we're only humble and willing
enough to ask: What did I miss? What else can I learn?
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