Tightly Wound

I’m trying to write a book. I'm not bragging about this – I think most of us have something deep inside of us that if we could ever flesh out would be meaningful. Mine is about the return in 538 BC to rebuild the Temple, and I've created characters who are coming back from Babylon, their lives being restored as the Temple is being restored. (I know: wake me up when it's over).

It’s taken a long time - five years - and I think I'm just about done. But here's the thing: because it's taken so long, I've had stretches where I haven't written anything, and then when I picked it back up it was extremely difficult to keep it consistent. The more I wrote over extended periods of time, the more contradictions started to take place - ones that had to be pointed out to me by my wife as she read it. Characters inexplicably changed character traits, they disappeared and reappeared in strange places. One of them even changed his name! This has been over about a five year period, so I guess this is to be expected.

Going through this process makes the Bible even more amazing to me. One of the things that I've noticed as I've continued to read through it from Genesis to Revelation (a discipline I highly encourage) is that there is an inherent consistency that strengthens the more you read it. Any other novel, the more you read it the more the threads start to break down a bit. Not the Bible - these threads actually gets stronger through each reading. One would expect that given enough readings it would eventually collapse under the weight of the numerous authors over thousands of years. I consider myself (somewhat) intelligent and edumacated, but I could barely keep consistency over five years.

The thread of the Temple. The thread of the Sabbath. Of God's redemptive plan. Of Christ. These strands grow stronger and stronger and more coherent and meaningful with each reading. The more you peel off layers the more intricate and consistent it becomes. I have a feeling that if given enough time I would get to an inner core that is perfect.

Think about this: What book has been more scrutinized by the finest minds of each generation, with the express purpose of pulling it apart and proving it false than the Bible? Yet here it stands after thousands of years, as true and pure as the moment each word was set down.

All I'm saying is this - from my experience, in writing on my own and in reading through God's Word - I am amazed beyond belief at this Book. There's something different about it.