Mtr Taylor Devine

Dear Friend,

Over the past several weeks we have been reading the Book of Judges in Morning Prayer. There are parts of the text that take us on wild rides full of hyperbole and guts and war, and if you have been wondering what is going on, I wanted to share a helpful overview of the The Book of Judges that particularly focuses on Samson who we encounter in today's reading. The video is of a class taught by one of my favorite Seminary Professors at her Church. When it comes to the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament I am grateful to hear her voice in my head when I think and pray through surprising or jarring texts. A few things I hear from those lectures and conversations some years ago are:

-"Where does the pattern of the text fit, and where is there extra - what might that extra point to?"
-"It’s not about the presenting issue, the land, it's not about the problem in your life, it always comes back to relationship with God."
-Dr. Fentress-Williams also often responded with "Yes! Could be." She is a scholar and gifted teacher who is also open to wonder in the text to which she's dedicated her life.

Judges is the beginning of the people of Israel in the land. There are no kings, just the tribes and elders. We see tribal identification and the beginning of a hierarchy, with the desire for leadership leading to Judges making claims and plans and mistakes. The pattern in this text is God-forgetfulness. The obvious trope is Samson's hair-to believe that his power comes from there disregards the true source of power and calling. But the story doesn't stop with the hair, there are instead many examples of forgetting God. The details of the reading matter, there are allegories and turns of phrase and character development and sacred claims on our lives, but seeing the pattern of God-forgetfulness can help us make sense rather than get lost in some of the details that we may not immediately see as necessary. Returning to these texts routinely over the years, we see new things and are freshly inspired or challenged, but having a pattern to hang on to helps me to listen for God's Spirit whenever I have the chance to read surprising good news.

In Christ,
Mtr. Taylor