Transport

Is that bird cocking its ear toward me?

Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king,
    nor in your bedroom curse the rich,
for a bird of the air will transport* your voice,
    or some winged creature tell the matter. (Ecclesiastes 10:20)

It's funny how what we read in the Bible can take on a whole new meaning, depending on what's going on in the world at the time. This verse from Ecclesiastes seems to give the simple advice of "It's not wise to badmouth powerful people behind their back."

But in this day and age? This verse seems much more sinister.

As I read about more and more people being bullied online, or even "canceled" for saying the wrong thing, or for having said the wrong thing 10 years ago, or for not saying the right thing soon enough, or for not saying anything at all, I can't help but think about Orwell's 1984, or some of what I've read about life under totalitarian rule in other parts of the world.

It's also getting harder and harder to know who and what can and cannot be trusted. The news media? Nope. The health experts? Probably not. The "thought leaders" and "influencers"? Everyone has their own agenda. And it's exhausting to try to sift out the truth from the agenda. Particularly knowing that my own often-unconscious agenda comes into play.

There's one thing I do know: The Bible, God's word, is the one voice that I know I can trust. The Holy Spirit is the one guide to right understanding. And Jesus is ... well, Jesus is everything.

I am consciously making sure that I'm drinking more deeply out of the Bible than I am on social media, or any of the many articles and opinion pieces I manage to read each day. I feel a sudden urgency to *know* the Bible, to really know and understand it, because it's through that lens that I want to receive and interpret all of the other news, all of the other opinions. I feel woefully unequipped to do this, but at the same time, I'm learning more every day, and I can tell that I'm gaining more knowledge, insight, and maybe even wisdom for navigating the messy and confusing spiritual battle that appears to be going on right now.

*Today's verse doesn't use our word of the day, "transport," but it does use its synonym, "carry." So please forgive my impromptu Bible translation above.