Are You There God?

A quick update from my little world - Things have been pretty crappy but I just keep chanting, "Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming" in a sing-song voice. What can I say? I am Dory. Now to the heart of the matter.....



Way back in November, I was bored at work. The holidays were upon us and except for getting ready for the company Christmas party, things were slow. When I'm bored, I read anything I can get my hands on. I don't remember what prompted it but I decided to try and find a literal interpretation of the bible. I was trying to find something that was the exact translation, not something that had been translated from a translation, much like the King James Version. Unfortunately, it is pretty hard to find. I had to settle with the KJV but I also found a website that had the Tanakh, the Hebrew canon for the Jewish bible. I thought to myself that Jesus was Jewish so therefore this must be as close to the real thing that you can get. Then I remembered that people also spoke Aramaic and Greek (not to mention what all else) during those times. This was starting to become a project of epic proportions.

Why not just use the KJV? Because I know that the KJV is a translation and it's not a direct translation. There are several words that do not directly translate into English or the words have several different meanings depending on the context; the KJV people did the best they could. During all of this a friend asked why I don't just go to church. The answer? Because the man behind the pulpit is not only going to give a direct reading of the KJV but he/she is also going to give their own interpretation of what that reading means. I wanted an exact translation, not what someone thought it meant or what their life experiences lead them to believe the words meant. Let's face it; no matter what you read - the bible, Nancy Drew, romance novels, science fiction, poetry, prescription information - you are going to translate what you read into something you can understand or believe. I was not going to get that with a translation of a translation of a translation etc.; but I digress.

I ended up having a conversation with a guy at work and he was more than eager to bend my ear with his knowledge. For over ten years, this guy has been working with the KJV, Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible and the Interlinear Scripture Analyzer to try and get to the very first writings of the bible and get a better understanding of what was the original meaning behind the stories. Needless to say I was blown away by his dedication and tenacity to continue with his studies. I for one have never been that dedicated to anything, and I'll admit that I thought I was now in the hands of a major bible thumper; something I try to avoid at all costs. Fortunately, the more I spoke with him the more I realized that he was not pushing anything on me; he was just sharing the experience and knowledge of his search. Oddly enough, I found that we agreed on several aspects of religion in general. So now I was armed with a KJV and some compact disc to guide me on my journey.

I guess this is where I should say that I have always believed that the bible was something that a bunch of people put together for the greater good to use as a guideline. I tend to liken them to the old wives tales or fairytales that we all grew up hearing. So who actually write these little ditties down? No one knows. Scholars all over the world cannot agree to who wrote what, especially when it comes to the New Testaments. I have been told that some of the authors were friends of the apostles or not even alive when events in the New Testaments took place. If that is the case, then how can they know what happened? Some say that they are the writings of those closest to Jesus. If that is the case, did they take dictation? Did they write down word-for-word what came out of Jesus’ mouth? Highly unlikely.

So for now my search continues but I can say that I am comfortable with my feelings about religion, God & Jesus. Religion; don’t need it. God & Jesus; I do and I have them. If I do what’s right and live my life to the best of my ability, God will take care of me. When He comes to earth, I will be with Him.