When you step back and observe the Bible from a broader view, what stands out above all is that over a period of two millennia, the Jewish writers’ perception of God progressed—not always in a straight line—toward a more equitable and less tribal world.
This may be a good time to share why I think the Bible is still worth reading. Because I get it: unless we are afraid to question what we read in the Bible (which is not uncommon in many church circles) most of us may at times find the Bible to be out of touch, confusing, and morally suspect. There’s just a lot in the Bible that’s weird.
Many years after my youthful experience with a tree, I learned how trees throughout history have had a mysterious and at times symbolic connection with the ego. Buddhism, for example, finds its origin in the Buddha who spent 49 days of meditation under a fig tree. Later, that tree became known as the tree of enlightenment because it symbolized the place where Buddha experienced freedom from the sufferings of the egoic mind.
I was only a toddler when I first became captivated with trees. Climbing trees was especially fascinating to me. If I could climb higher than my friends, it somehow made me feel unique. And for the first years of childhood, I was an unbeatable climber among my peers.
True change is only possible if the heart is transformed. In my particular church background, I was taught about Christ dwelling in my heart. At the same time, I was also told that I had to change what I was doing wrong through self-discipline and working hard at it. I had to do everything in my ability to lose my bad habits, destructive behaviors, and negative attitudes. But the more I tried to change, the more I failed. Sure, I succeeded from time to time, but often the success was short lived. Every time I felt like I came up short, I drowned in frustration, guilt, and insecurity.
