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“Take care what you hear,” said a verse in the Gospel reading for the day (Mark 4:21-25). And so, when Julia opened her Bible, she prayed that she would pay attention to what she was about to “hear” in the passage she was reading.
It was the story of Bartimaeus being healed of his blindness. The verse, “Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way” (Mark 10:52), suddenly came alive for her. For the first time, she noticed the words “on the way.”
Julia got a map out and traced the itinerary that Jesus had walked, from the point of this healing in Jericho to his crucifixion ion Jerusalem. As she did, she began to realize that she wanted to rededicate herself to following in the footsteps of Jesus—to go “on the way” with him. Then she prayed, “Lord, I believe Bartimaeus was a faith-filled person, that you healed him and then filled him with the courage he needed to follow you. Please fill me with that same faith and courage.”
What does it mean to “pay attention” to what we hear or read in Scripture? There are so many different ways to “hear” the Bible: as historical reporting, as literature, as wisdom from past generations, as a mythic retelling of the human saga. But it’s the hearing with faith, which Julia experienced, that really bears fruit. It’s the hearing with a surrendered heart and with an open, docile mind that opens us to the glory of God.
Saint Ephrem once said, “Scripture brought me to the gate of paradise and the mind stood in wonder as it entered.” Does that sound like your approach to Scripture or have you slackened off a bit? Have you found your time with the Bible leaving you dry, making Scripture seem more like history or good story-telling than the life-giving word of God? It’s never too late to turn things around.
Try something different in your prayer today. Take today’s first reading from Hebrews and, using your imagination, picture yourself “approaching” the throne of God. Imagine what it feels like to have your heart “sprinkled clean from an evil conscience.” Picture yourself dressed in a white robe and standing before your heavenly Father. What do you see? What is God saying to you? How do you think you should respond?