Improving Lives through Heart-Centered Experiences of the Sacred

Scripture Study

Once a month at the Universalist Recovery Church, we hold a Scripture Study to explore teachings from various religious traditions. These reflections were written for those Sunday gatherings. Although they mostly draw from Christian or Hebrew Scriptures, we also consider Buddhist, mystical, and other teachings.

Observant Jew praying - obedience to God's laws — Shema: Listen and Respond
The Shema and Obedience The religions of the book emphasize obedience to God. The name “Islam,” for instance, […]

December 5, 2020 in Scripture Study tagged Love / Obedience / Shema by Barbara Stevens

In the Beginning Was Love
In the Beginning In the beginning, there was Love, and Love longed for a beloved, and out of […]

October 31, 2020 in Scripture Study by Barbara Stevens

An offering made as a sacrifice to the gods - of plants not of people — Sacrifice, Scapegoating, and Love
Restoring Harmony through Human Sacrifice With the start of the harvest, and before the rains began to fall, […]

October 3, 2020 in Scripture Study tagged Odin / Sacrifice / Scapegoating by Barbara Stevens

Offering charity to someone on the street — Faith, Hope, and Charity
The Greatest of These First Corinthians 13 contains Paul’s famous treatise on agape, which in most modern translations […]

September 5, 2020 in Scripture Study tagged Agape / Charity / Love by Barbara Stevens

Mona Lisa wearing a pandemic mask and holding cleaning supplies, our attempts to survive in chaos, to choose life — A Time for Everything
All is Vanity “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Eccl […]

August 1, 2020 in Scripture Study tagged choose life / Ecclesiastes 3 / God / Meaning and Purpose / Pandemic by Barbara Stevens

A painting of Jonah on the ship in a storm with the fish waiting to swallow him — Jonah and A Message for Our Time
A Call to Compassion Once upon a time, there lived a prophet named Jonah. He was a real […]

June 7, 2020 in Scripture Study tagged Compassion / Forgiveness / Jonah / Justice / Self-Righteousness by Barbara Stevens

A statue of Adam holding Abel and Eve kissing him — Eve and the First Death
Mother’s Day and the Loss of a Child It is Mother’s Day. Even if the holiday was, as […]

May 9, 2020 in Scripture Study tagged Adam / Cain and Abel / Eve / Grief / Sorrow by Barbara Stevens

Delilah watching the Philistines attack Samson - about loyalty and betrayal and the stories victors tell — Rahab, Delilah, and Making Righteous Choices
To the Victor Lies the Story When the battle is over and the dust has settled, the victor […]

February 29, 2020 in Scripture Study tagged Betrayal / Delilah / Loyalty / Myths / Rahab / Stories by Barbara Stevens

Tamar and the Power of the Trickster
Trickster Tales of Scripture In last week’s column, we looked at the trickster motif and its relationship to […]

February 1, 2020 in Scripture Study tagged Power / Tamar / Trickster by Barbara Stevens

Two children walking arm in arm down a dirt road, listening, walking a mile in each other's shoes — Humility and Walking in Another’s Shoes
Walking in Each Other’s Shoes Early in my chaplaincy, when I worked on a detox unit where residents […]

January 4, 2020 in Scripture Study tagged Gethesemane / Healing / Jesus / Listening / Mother Teresa / Suffering by Barbara Stevens

An evergreen tree with a mountain behind it on a sunny day - a goat is hidden in the shadows — What Is Hidden in the Parable of the Leaven
Myth as Self-Creation We invent ourselves with our stories. Not that we would cease to exist in body […]

December 1, 2019 in Scripture Study tagged Hidden Things / Jesus / Kin-dom of God / Love / Parable of the Yeast / Parables by Barbara Stevens

A clown with a red nose and brightly-colored hat and coat - the clown acts as the holy fool opening us to faith, hope, and love — Jesus and the Holy Fool
God Chose Foolish Things In his first letter to the Christian community of Corinth, Paul writes, “But God […]

November 2, 2019 in Scripture Study tagged Clowns / Corinthians / Faith / Holy Fool / Hope / Jesus / WIsdom by Barbara Stevens