Meet Meghan Jones.
She is my beautiful wife of now 3 years. (I think this is true, I have a horrible sense of time.) She is incredibly smart, beautiful, and funny. She loves life but only when it is being truly lived. She is a romantic at her core. (You may ask what she is doing with me then? That is another question for another time.) She absolutely loves to smile, which I find endearing. She is passionately in love with God and she is a seeker of truth.
This is my wife.
She sounds great!
She is great!
What if I told you that I have the key to her heart? What if I told you I can give you a blueprint to win her love? What if I explained to you a process on how to date my wife? Seriously, If anyone would know how to date my wife, it would be me, right?
And what if I said that I would give you this process through stories, poems, and examples?
For instance, let me explain how I personally met Meghan...
It was my senior year in college. I was "helping" the new freshman move into their dormitories. In the process of helping, someone grabbed me, and asked me to fill in as a flag representative during the freshman welcome ceremony. I was to represent Minnesota, Meghan represented her home state of Massachusetts. There I was, right behind my wife, trying to keep my thoughts as pure as I could. I decided to throw down my secret weapon to woo her over to me. The scene looked like this.
Me: "Hey, whats your name?"
Meghan: "My name is Meghan Delargy"
Me: "Cool, hey do you wanna hear a joke?"
Meghan: "Sure, why not?"
Me: "Sweet, why did the chick cross the road?"
Meghan: " I dunno why?"
Me: " 'Cause she saw me!"
Can you believe she fell for this? I mean, she is now my wife. She to this day still claims that it wasn't the joke that she fell for. But I think it is. I think it was my charm that won her over.
So hear is the deal. If you want to know what is the best way to date my wife just from this story, what kind of information could you gather. Let me provide you based on this story on what I think would be the best way to win over my wife. Here we go:
1) Find out where you might be able to bump into Meghan. Scout the place out.
2) Search for the nearest flag, preferably a state one. Follow Meghan around with the flag in hand.
3) It may not be a bad idea to have a spare flag for Meghan just in case she may not have one. If she does not already have a flag, simply give her the spare.
4) Be ready to introduce yourself and ask have her introduce her self to you.
5) Have a corny joke prepared for her. When the opportunity arises, tell the joke. Wait for her positive reaction.
6) She then will be yours.
This is how you can date my wife. If you follow these steps, Meghan will be yours...
Alright, back to reality. First off, please don't try to hit on my wife, (Brian Thomas, I am talking to you.) this is just an example of another reality. I am using this to point us to an unfortunate practice that many of us use to understand the Bible. In all seriousness, even if Meghan was on the market, (which she is not) would anyone really think by following the steps previously, that you might be able to win over my wife's heart? I honestly don't think anyone would be so ridiculous.
That being true, I believe there is many times that we approach the Bible in this way. We look for many "how to's" in God's word. We think when we find an example in one of the Biblical narratives or poems, that we would be able to reproduce that particular reality in today's context.
But what if the Bible was not meant to answer the question "How to"? What if the Bible was there to explain the narrative of God and his people? What lens do we have when reading scripture. Are we looking for advice or prescriptions for our sickness?
I think we need a new goal when reading the Bible in 2009 and going forward:
1) Experience God and relive experiences of our heritage with God's people, rooted in the stories, poems, and the prophetic voices of God's word.
2) As my friend Adam Ellis once explained, look at scripture as a description and no so much as a prescription.
3) Find our place in God's unfolding story and be agents in moving the story forward.
I am very thankful for my relationship with my wife. I have so many memories and experiences with her. We have a shared story that cannot be reduced to bullet points and a blueprint. She is too wonderful for that. She is to beautiful for that. Our love is to strong for that.
I find it hard that God can be reduced to a set of prescriptions, bullet points, and blueprints. God seems to be more majestic for that. There is too much mystery for that. His love for me is too much for that.
This is my wife.
She sounds great!
She is great!
What if I told you that I have the key to her heart? What if I told you I can give you a blueprint to win her love? What if I explained to you a process on how to date my wife? Seriously, If anyone would know how to date my wife, it would be me, right?
And what if I said that I would give you this process through stories, poems, and examples?
For instance, let me explain how I personally met Meghan...
It was my senior year in college. I was "helping" the new freshman move into their dormitories. In the process of helping, someone grabbed me, and asked me to fill in as a flag representative during the freshman welcome ceremony. I was to represent Minnesota, Meghan represented her home state of Massachusetts. There I was, right behind my wife, trying to keep my thoughts as pure as I could. I decided to throw down my secret weapon to woo her over to me. The scene looked like this.
Me: "Hey, whats your name?"
Meghan: "My name is Meghan Delargy"
Me: "Cool, hey do you wanna hear a joke?"
Meghan: "Sure, why not?"
Me: "Sweet, why did the chick cross the road?"
Meghan: " I dunno why?"
Me: " 'Cause she saw me!"
Can you believe she fell for this? I mean, she is now my wife. She to this day still claims that it wasn't the joke that she fell for. But I think it is. I think it was my charm that won her over.
So hear is the deal. If you want to know what is the best way to date my wife just from this story, what kind of information could you gather. Let me provide you based on this story on what I think would be the best way to win over my wife. Here we go:
1) Find out where you might be able to bump into Meghan. Scout the place out.
2) Search for the nearest flag, preferably a state one. Follow Meghan around with the flag in hand.
3) It may not be a bad idea to have a spare flag for Meghan just in case she may not have one. If she does not already have a flag, simply give her the spare.
4) Be ready to introduce yourself and ask have her introduce her self to you.
5) Have a corny joke prepared for her. When the opportunity arises, tell the joke. Wait for her positive reaction.
6) She then will be yours.
This is how you can date my wife. If you follow these steps, Meghan will be yours...
Alright, back to reality. First off, please don't try to hit on my wife, (Brian Thomas, I am talking to you.) this is just an example of another reality. I am using this to point us to an unfortunate practice that many of us use to understand the Bible. In all seriousness, even if Meghan was on the market, (which she is not) would anyone really think by following the steps previously, that you might be able to win over my wife's heart? I honestly don't think anyone would be so ridiculous.
That being true, I believe there is many times that we approach the Bible in this way. We look for many "how to's" in God's word. We think when we find an example in one of the Biblical narratives or poems, that we would be able to reproduce that particular reality in today's context.
But what if the Bible was not meant to answer the question "How to"? What if the Bible was there to explain the narrative of God and his people? What lens do we have when reading scripture. Are we looking for advice or prescriptions for our sickness?
I think we need a new goal when reading the Bible in 2009 and going forward:
1) Experience God and relive experiences of our heritage with God's people, rooted in the stories, poems, and the prophetic voices of God's word.
2) As my friend Adam Ellis once explained, look at scripture as a description and no so much as a prescription.
3) Find our place in God's unfolding story and be agents in moving the story forward.
I am very thankful for my relationship with my wife. I have so many memories and experiences with her. We have a shared story that cannot be reduced to bullet points and a blueprint. She is too wonderful for that. She is to beautiful for that. Our love is to strong for that.
I find it hard that God can be reduced to a set of prescriptions, bullet points, and blueprints. God seems to be more majestic for that. There is too much mystery for that. His love for me is too much for that.
How do you date my wife? If that is still and option (which its not), I would tell you to have a shared experience and life with her in some way. This is the only way you can win her heart. Maybe we need to allow God to align Himself with our story. This shared experience is what should be looking for.
-dj
-dj
3 comments:
You are sooooooooo lucky to have such a wonderful wife to put up with you (ha). I am humbled to have the wife I have also. We are both blessed by God, to have such wonderful partners with whom to experience life.
Peace
Osojo
You have no idea on how luck I am. I am just happy she didnt kill me after this post, but I guess she actually enjoyed.
-dj
Very well stated my man! Keep up the good work!
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