Feel The Word

Bible study group. They were interrupting my reading.

I had just finished reading about British subjects in the American revolution who thought of themselves as slaves to Britain, even though they themselves were slave owners, when the group came within earshot. Well, I guess the coffee blender somewhat ruined the context, so I'll have to look up another quote that came from the head of the table:

"....make a man change gods"

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097481/quotes

And after that, they began. The verses they wanted to look at were

http://biblehub.com/genesis/3-6.htm

and

http://biblehub.com/genesis/3-16.htm

That's woman as temptress, woman being punished with childbirth pains...

Then I noticed that a fleur-de-lis type symbol at the beginning of the chapter in the reading seemed to resemble female reproductive organs.

...and female desire for control and male as ruler...

Charming!

It was apparent that being head of the household was important to this small Christian group of Black, Asian, and White men. A woman may have emotional influence but a man must be the head, their leader instructed.

"If you don't know what manhood is, if you don't know what God made you to be, then you will never be able to walk."

I tried to move on to my Martin Luther King reading, but they were noisy about "being out in the open" about their sins and I could not. Lust is a big problem.

One said his friend recommended a therapist to him and he referred his wife to the therapist, so now she's in therapy. (Maybe because she's married to someone who needs to be the ruler/head of the household?)  He admitted he'd told half-truths...he was not open about his sin of lust, which he hopes god will cure him of...Well, look at that, it's CLOSING TIME!

As I got up and gathered my things, the head of the table was saying that being a godly man will not easy at first, but it will become easier. God will "prune" him and then he can "prune" others. Those who do not wish to be pruned are like cockroaches running from the light, he continued, as I scuttled away.

In the parking lot, a couple made out beneath the streetlight. I wanted to say, hey Bible study dudes! There's two guys kissing in the parking lot! One has a blond crewcut and the other has a dark beard, kind of like your leader!

Ha. I did not of course.

As I drove away I could see they were still there, past closing time. How come they stay so late? Are they related to one of the women who works there? Could one of them be a wife? No, that's probably not the case. I'm sure their wives are at home doing godly things, like sewing quilts for their daughters' hope chests, in preparation for the day when father-the-head-of-the-household gives her away to a godly man...