What are a few of the crossroad points that moved me to accepting this perspective on the gift of life as a primary teacher? Here are some realizations and insights that I have found helpful, not in any particular chronological order. Deep religious traditions in human history often refer to spiritual paths as the “way to the river.” Rivers are symbols of life, ever flowing into an unknown, but full of life and ultimately irresistible. You can’t push a river’s flow. Everything must come in its time. Jesus taught us to look for the fruit of life and actions, then assess which way to go. Apostle Paul wrote we should focus on what is good, true, lovely, virtuous, rather than negatively assessing as our default approach. Christ is our eternal pattern of how to live, how the human life should be expressed. So, I choose in openness and hope.

1. Matthew 7.11-  “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?” This verse
   kept meeting me in reflection and prayer. If “human effort with good intentions” defines the capacity for good that we have, and if God’s goodness exponentially eclipses our abilities, then we cannot judge God by our standards, neither are we capable of relying on our discernment or raw judgment to assess the broader and deeper streams of human engagement. God’s picture is so much bigger than we can ever see. Divine Transcendence is so complete that our human ability to assess even what is good or evil is immediately handicapped. This, along with other statements by Christ that place humans in a very limited space, delegates us to “learner” status, observer roles, humble servants. Even by using parables to teach, Jesus was placing his hearers and followers in a position of observing our lives, nature, and daily events to be lead to truths for living. There is a God, and I am not Him. God does give us a place in
   the bigger picture even though we live in the fishbowls of our own limitations.
2. Jesus never seemed to exhibit anger at sinners or non-covenanted people (Gentiles), or blame the poor and suffering for their plight. He did express frustration, even anger, at those who refused or were unable to see that they were sinners. (Mark 3.1-6; John 8.44ff; Mark 11.15-18) This upends the human
   (my) tendency to judge others. I can never throw the first stone….even though I am sorely tempted to do so.
3. Samaritans…to call a Jew a “Samaritan” was an insult. They were excluded from Jewish society, and the Samaritans followed their own pathway through Scripture and Hebrew history. Samaritans still exist today, tracing their high priesthood back over 750 generations directly to Aaron and Moses. Samaritans of Jesus’ time did not accept the full canon of the Hebrew Scriptures (acknowledging only the Pentateuch or Torah); they rejected the House of David as the Messianic line; they rejected Jerusalem as the center of worship, the temple, the priesthood, the sacrificial system, etc. In effect, they rejected the prophets and would not have accepted Jesus as the Messiah whom they also looked for. YET! Jesus never judged their faith or told them to change. He used them as examples of goodness. (John 4; Luke 10). He did tell the woman at the well that “salvation is through the Jewish heritage;” however, he never made an issue out of it, and all the woman’s village believed in Jesus as the savior of the world. Jesus is for all. Whatever in our lives helps us to love, believe and be grateful to God… it is good, it belongs. Our pathways lead us to the river of life. Therefore, I should regard those of other beliefs with respect and listen to their stories. Jesus told His disciples, “Whoever is not against you is for you.” (Luke 9.50)
4. My upbringing and early training in the faith shaped me to read Scripture and life with limited paradigms and heavy filters. This is quite normal in our faith journey. However, life wakens one to
   realities that are often not incorporated into early or formal training and experience. I read over and over what Paul wrote to the Ephesians in chapter 6 about our struggle not being with flesh and blood but with powers and spiritual rulers in high places. I read in the Gospels about Jesus engaging with powers of other realms of being that were openly present in the lives of people, hurting and cursing their lives, to be removed by the love and presence of Jesus. I heard His word to His followers that He gave them authority over these powers and beings. I read of angels, miracles, mysteries and cosmic dimensions of hierarchies of power. I read and read and read. Then I saw, and saw again. I prayed for understanding and sight, and the Lord gave it. My life and work in Africa, Asia and America have shown me these powers in ways that I could not have imagined- real, present, dangerous, and subject to the name of Jesus. Now I don’t just read.
5. Telescopes are useful, enjoyable tools. These interesting optical assistants can open new vistas, or they can project nearby items far into the distance when turned the other direction. It’s all in how the telescope is directed. When “reversed,” telescopes are very distorting rather than clarifying. How I approach scripture is similar. If I read all verses on a flat plane, considering every biblical statement equal to all others, I will easily go astray. There are important scriptural principles from the prophets and apostles, especially from Jesus. These statements are the telescope pointing in the correct direction- magnifying, clarifying, categorizing, granting scale and focus in which all other verses must be understood. If we grasp any phrase or statement from among the thousands of verses because we like
   it, or it justifies what we want to believe or do, then we have inverted the telescope and will misread and misinterpret almost everything else we read. For example, Jesus said, “By this shall all people know you are my disciples, by the love you have for one another.” (John 13.35) He also said in answer to the question of the greatest commandment, “Love God…love your neighbor…on these two commandments hang all the law and prophets.” (Matthew 22) This is echoed by Paul in Romans 13.10, “To love is to fulfill all the law’s requirements.” And, “…the greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor. 13) How do we miss this? Love has the first, middle and final word in all things. Another example, Galatians 3.28, there is no distinction in Christ between male and female, slave or free, Jew or Gentile- our social, ethnic/faith, and gender distinctions mean nothing in Christ. Now, believe that and read ALL other scripture in alignment with that principle. Any other restrictive interpretation that ultimately violates this broad principle can’t
   be more than locally contextually applicable with limited relevance. When we allow limited contextual statements to overrule the big, broad principles, we will not be true to the character of God.