God comes to us

Wednesday June 9th, Galatians 1: 13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. Today, Paul would have been known as a fanatic fundamentalist. He had right on his side, he had the power of the state on his side, he had knowledge of scripture on his side, and he knew how to use it for his own and his state’s self interest. He was ready at a moment’s notice and without further thought to the risk of life and limb (at least someone else’s) to protect the word of God. The only trouble is that back then, and through the ages down to today, the main thing the word of God needs protecting from, are those who wish to protect the word of God from others. We too live at a time when it is not so much a conflict between Christians, Muslims and Jews, but rather between fundamentalists Christians, Muslims and Jews and people of faith who wish only to live their lives in decency and respect for the many ways God comes to us.