Elephants and Scripture

I have had the privilege of being in central Africa, i.e., Zambia and Zimbabwe. On Lake Kariba we saw a herd of elephants near the shore. We were in a small boat and the elephants did not want us to come closer as they made loud sounds and threw water at us with their trunks. We back off to a distant which they approved. Seeing elephants in a zoo or in the circus is a different experience. I feel for those captured and tamed elephants. They are not like the free elephants in Lake Kariba. God’s word is like the herd of elephants at Lake Kariba who are free to be who they are created to be. Thanks to the writings of Dr. Paul Kittner, I have imagined the scriptures like that free herd of elephants at Lake Kiriba. The scriptures are the divine words; they are not my words. Unfortunately, we have placed those words of the Creator in interpretation and doctrine ‘cages.’ Worse, we have even paraded the Bible in worship services as if we have tamed it, like a circus elephant. Yes, we need to work at interpreting the scriptures, but we need not think we can tame and limit the scriptures to only our interpretations, doctrines, beliefs, etc. The scriptures were inspired by the Divine Creator/Spirit and they are free. The scriptures may mean different things to different individuals at different times. The task of interpretation is to get our egos out of the way and cease making them mean what we need and/or want them to mean for our purpose(s).