About

The Why

For some of us, we are extremely familiar with The Biblical Stories. The Bible contains stories of death, murder, genocide, abuse, shame, and insecurity. Because of our familiarity, we can leave our hearts at the door and engage only intellectually. The truth is, we lose something when that happens. There are very few stories in the Bible that put us into the mind of the main character. Do not be too concerned with the specifics of each story. But may this give you fresh eyes to approach the Bible. We will be trying to engage with our hearts to this beautiful piece of literature. This might range from serious drama to comedy to maybe another person’s writing. Jesus became flesh, I would like to meet him with my whole body as he met his spirit to our body.

The What

Each blog will be written in the POV of a character in a Biblical story. This can range from Zacchaeus on the sycamore-fig tree to Cain and his murder of his brother, Abel. Some will be much darker in tone, some much lighter. It is an avenue for us to go into the mind of that character and experience the story as they might have. What could have possibly gone through Cain's head to make him kill his brother?

Inspiration

The Source by James Michener, Ignatian Conemplation, and The Gods aren't Angry by Rob Bell. Also a main source of inspiration for me is the ancient Jewish style of Literature-Midrash. Midrash gives us more details on stories that the rabbinic sages over centuries have discovered in the text. I will not be citing any Midrashim; this is not meant to be an academic pursuit. The purpose of Midrash is to gets us to ask the right questions of the Bible. This is my artistic interpretation of the stories. That being said- some things are not meant to be taken literally. For my purposes in this blog, The Midrash is a guide for spirit and artistic connection to the text. This is mostly applicable to the OT, the NT might feature more historical contextual and 1st century Judaism as a feature in those stories.

How this might work best for you

The Rabbinic sages stated that the Torah has 70 faces to it. They also later say there are 600,000 letters of Torah, from my teachers- this is to express the beauty of how each person has their own unique experience with the text that can all be genuine and real, even if they conflict on the surface. The 600,000 comes from Sinai when there were 600,000 men at Sinai who saw God. They might not have the best theology, but they saw God’s voice. I'm going to be sharing my experience. I would like to invite you into it.

Who am I?

My name is Ben, short for Benjamin. My day-day job involves Campus Ministry and Finances. So, as you’d expect- I am a creative writer. I’m a Christian coming from a non-Denominational background. Would love to hear how these stories impact you. I put all my heart into these.