Dare to ROAM
/Our direct dive into the Dangerous Book, a.k.a. the Bible, has ended. But like all of our conversations it was designed to spark beginnings. R.O.A.M is an ongoing tool you can practice on your own or with your Fabric Group so the Bible can grow to be a good kind of dangerous in your life – the kind that draws you beyond your status quo, the limits of your fear and what you can see on your own. When we let the Bible be that kind of dangerous, not only do we grow our own strength and resilience, but we also become part of healing the incredibly dangerous ways these writings have been used and abused to further human agendas that control, oppress and coerce others.
Besides the layers of misuse and harm, the layers of culture, language, and time between us and when it was written make it hard to read and understand! Yet it is an offering we’ve inherited from generations of flesh and blood human beings that continues to challenge our simplistic and self-interested views of life and the world and make us bigger, and a part of something bigger.
“The Bible will serve you best when it is a foundation to your life, not a band-aid. And you develop that kind of relationship gradually and not alone.”
It takes practice, people, and perspective over time to let the Bible be that kind of dangerous. That’s why – even though we don’t quote Bible verses every week - Fabric persists in the effort to keep our real lives in thoughtful and humble dialogue with its voices. Not to be commanded by the Bible, but to live in dialogue with it.
Maybe you loved the six-week look at this Dangerous Book. Maybe you couldn’t wait for it to be over. Maybe you are somewhere in between or just intrigued that all of us were able to connect and grow through this conversation. Welcome all of you! We must be doing something right. May the dialogue go on.
ROAM is one tool to help keep it going.
What’s ROAM?
R.O.A.M is a handy acronym for a pattern for reading the Bible that many have found accessible and helpful in one form or another for generations.
Read: Take your time. Bring your curiosity and full self to a reading of any length.
Observe: Read again, make notes. What details do you notice? What connections? What do you notice about its larger context?
Apply: To your life and our world. Use compassion and curiosity not judgement and guilt.
Meditate: Sit with the reading and your thoughts. There may be words you want to say, pray, or just be.
Happy ROAMing! May it be dangerous in all the best ways.
It is human scale connections that will help us navigate.