Because we are meaning-making creatures, it is no surprise that many cultures across the world and throughout history have extended this to finding symbolic meaning in numbers. Even in Western North American culture that doesn't have a historical numerological system of its own, we have a strong predilection for multiples of ten, and call the … Continue reading A Time for Every Matter under Heaven
The other week, in the post exploring the story of Moses and the Burning Bush, a theme that came up a couple times was sacred geography. There are ancient traditions in the Near East associating the wild and mountainous regions of the south and southwest — Midian, Horeb, and Sinai — with the dwelling place … Continue reading Geography of the Sacred
Story is everything. Everything is story. Story-telling is a fundamental part of being human. We all do it, every day, whether we are aware of it or not. We are wired to make meaning, to seek patterns and connections between people and events, causes and effects. This is a critical and wonderful part of what … Continue reading Changing the Story
The final Bible story I want to explore in depth in this series on knowing God is Job's encounter with God in the whirlwind. The story of Job is as follows: Though a holy and honorable man, Job loses his health, wealth, and family in a series of calamities. Job must deal not only with … Continue reading Facing the Whirlwind
A few days ago, as I was looking for a photo to use for my post on feminine images of God, I was taken by (and indeed ended up choosing) an image of a woman blowing bubbles with a small child. It took me a few minutes to realize that this photo was so striking … Continue reading Blowing Bubbles with God
Matthew Root 