I recently started rereading the Gospel of Matthew and I feel broken wide open.
Let me back up a little there. For those of you who haven’t been reading here lately, I have been reading “A New New Testament”. It’s the traditional New Testament plus many of the books that were left out, such as the Gospel of Thomas, The Gospel of Mary, The Acts of Paul of Thecla and more. These books were books written around the same time as the others but were left out for whatever reason and lost to us but in the past 100 years or so have been discovered in Egypt – in the desert, in markets and libraries of ancient monasteries. And a council of theologians, modeled after the early church councils of the first 6 centuries, got together and worked to determine which of these works should be added. You can read my post about it here.
So, now back to my rereading The Gospel of Matthew. As I came to it, I started with the introduction and after reading it, I became very excited to get started reading it again. The translation is from the Open English Bible. One I hadn’t really used before but I am liking it. Not too different, really, from any others.
As I began reading, it was all so familiar. Reading through the names in the first chapter was the same as always, only it wasn’t. I usually hurriedly read through it, if I didn’t just skip it all together. I mean who wants to try to pronounce all those names! But you know, as I read it this time, I didn’t find it all that hard. I read through each name slowly, thinking of their stories that I knew. Thinking that they were people, people who mattered, who deserved to be remembered. And I took the time to do so.
As I read, I found myself slowly reaching for my pencil. Do I mark up this book? I’ve always struggled with marking a bible… I know some people write all over theirs, different colored ink or pencils, they highlight and write notes but I’ve barely been able to underline favorite verses lightly in pencil. BUT eventually, I couldn’t help myself. I started with the first time Joseph’s name appeared but it wasn’t really until chapter 5 that I really started marking. So much seemed to be jumping off the page at me, calling for my attention. It’s not that any of it was new or surprising but somehow it had new meaning?
One of the ways I’ve always read the Bible is by using the lens of the world around me today. Looking for how it speaks to what is going in my world this very minute, in my life today. This time I added to that by really noticing what words and phrases jumped out at me and took time to pause and ask why and then listen, really listen for the answer. Even just close my eyes and meditate on it. Pause, let it sink in, breath it in. This is really changing things for me.
Don’t get me wrong. I think I’ve tried to read it this way for years, but I always seemed to have someone else in my head and heart with me telling me what I was supposed to get from this… from old sermons or Sunday school lessons, or bible studies… since I took that time off (read my blog post about that here) I seem to be more in tune with my own heart, my own mind, my own inner knowing. I feel that my connection to Spirit, Sophia, God, Jesus through my heart, mind and inner knowing is stronger than ever.
I’ve come to realize that everything I need is already within me, in my heart just waiting to be opened and released. Just waiting for me to tap into it and receive it! It’s not out there, it’s not something to find, it’s more inside me needing to be unlocked.
Anyway, I got off there again. I don’t know why, but as I’m typing, I’m discovering and learning. It’s crazy! It’s exciting, it’s a little unnerving, really, but in a good way.
My whole point here is that because of all of this happening to me, within me, I’m thinking of writing my reflections again. If you remember, I had renamed them reflections rather than devotions a while back and I think I’ll keep that. I think I’ll start here in Matthew. That’s not the first book of “A New New Testament” but it’s the one speaking to me right now. So it’s where I’ll begin.
Not sure yet, how I’ll be doing it – daily, weekly, twice a week – I don’t know. I also haven’t decided if I’ll share it here on my blog or my email list or both or I don’t know yet. But I think it’s coming. I’m feeling pulled that way again. So, let me know if you’d be interested in reading them and I’ll be sure to include you however I do it.
Until next time…♥️
Simply Sherri 
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