Day Five

Yes, I realize I skipped Day Four, but we took a pause in the pilgrimage and had a family day. St. Louis was pretty much shut down, but we did see the aquarium and hung out around Union Station. 

Today, day five, we toured the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky, and we played Biblical themed putt-putt golf in Lexington, Kentucky. Honestly, I am not even sure where to begin.

Over the last nine months, I have been teaching a Bible study on Genesis. I chose Genesis because it has such great stories, and I thought everyone should have some knowledge of the depth of these stories. But, over the last nine months I was reminded over and over of how good God is, and how this idea of a good God was so new to humanity. The story of Noah’s Ark is a great example – that God would save rather than obliterate EVERYONE. That was a new idea that turned everything previously thought of how deities worked on its’ head. (More to come in the virtual pilgrimage episode.)

 

So, I approached the Ark Encounter with considerable interest. Again, it is really very difficult to explain the remoteness of these religious attractions, but this is a huge ship out in the middle of nowhere. I think all three of us were surprised at the detail and breadth of this replica. (I will cover a lot of detail in the episode.) The one thing I didn’t film, or photograph, was their brief museum of the Bible. I was very interested in what they would present, and which scrolls and codex they would have on display. It was surprising to me that instead of covering the various ages of each book, or the various genres of each book, or the different translations – you know, from Hebrew to Greek to Latin to English – or Hebrew to Greek – or how the rabbi’s and scholars would copy the scrolls by hand and add or subtract various words and sentences – the brief Bible museum was simply a description of the expansion of missionary/colonialism through the various parts of the world. 

That was a long sentence.  Short version. So, the "brief history of the Bible" did not explain how the scrolls of the Bible were collected, and it didn't even name the councils of the Church that debated which books were in and which books were out of the Canon of Scripture. Instead, it skipped from Jerusalem to the first English translation in 1530 (which misses about 1500 years of history). From the first English translation, they explained how and when missionaries first landed on all continents with a Bible. Basically, it was a misnomer. The exhibit was more of history of missionary/colonialism than a history of the Bible. It perplexed me.

 

Then, we drove down to Lexington, Kentucky to play our 54 holes of Biblical themed mini golf. Since all the other attractions were in the middle of nowhere, Mom and I were worried when the GPS started taking us through a random neighborhood. We kept looking at each other and laughing as the GPS wrapped us around and around a neighborhood. When we got to the center of the neighborhood, there was a huge ice rink and putt-putt golf course completely out of place with its’ surroundings. As we pulled in the parking lot, we all started laughing. It was like a big sore thumb sticking out in the neighborhood. 

 

We had quite a lot of discussion about whether the neighborhood developed around the putt-putt golf, or whether they built the putt-putt golf course in the middle of the neighborhood. And, all of this has me thinking about how we, as the church, so often show up with all the answers for people we don’t know rather than show up, listen, and ask what they may need from us. (Okay, let's be honest, many of us do the same thing with our friends and our own family.) 

I hadn’t thought too much about this until a few years ago when I was at a preaching conference, and I heard a guy named Romal Tune speak. He had this theory that churches should be like gangs. It sounds weird, I know. (Just forget about the violence of gangs for a second and think about how they form community.) He said that growing up the gangs would show up to youth and ask ,“what do you need? Food? Clothes? What does your family need?” And, then the church would show up and say, “we know exactly what you need, but they didn't understand the dynamics of their family or community.” The gangs listened. The church didn’t. Gangs, he said, "were winning." Church, he said, "needed to learn to listen and ask questions – not supply solutions." 

 

If this pilgrimage has done anything, it has reminded me of Romal’s theory. Asking questions and listening is so important in walking with each other. Our Baptismal Covenant asks us if we will “respect the dignity of every human being.” And we all answer, “with God’s help, I will.” The thing is, we can’t respect people that we feel we need to control, or have power over, or tell exactly how they should live their lives. We respect people who are equals – beside us – or people that we look up to. 

 

So, how do we go about shifting our thinking? I wonder if having the curiosity of a pilgrim could help. Honestly, I have asked so many questions this week. I have found myself genuinely curious about the people behind these religious attractions. What if we became genuinely curious about the gifts and life experiences of each person we meet? How might curiosity change us? How might curiosity move us forward? What would change if we truly learned to listen with a pilgrim’s curiosity? It might not change the world, but it could be a good start.