I sometimes catch ‘Desert Island Discs’ on Radio 4. Yesterday the ‘castaway’ was the actor Brian Cox. He spoke very movingly of his childhood in Dundee and the poverty he experienced which in many ways has shaped his outlook on life not least his politics. He also had heart-felt reasons for his eight choices of music, some of which chimed with my own taste. Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell and the Beach Boys could well figure in my eight choices if ever invited.
At the end of the programme Brian Cox was asked the usual questions. If he could take just one of his discs to the island which would it be? Which luxury would he like to take? What book would he take apart from the Bible and Shakespeare which are already there? In response to the latter he very quickly and firmly stated: ‘Well, I don’t particularly want the Bible.’ He was told by presenter Lauren Laverne that he was getting it anyway!
He is not the first castaway to object to having the Bible on the desert island. It is maybe not surprising but you can’t help wondering what lies behind it. It’s quite possible that the mention of the Bible stirs up some dark and painful associations. Maybe not about the Bible itself so much as people who professed to value it and live by it and yet were clearly not shaped by its truths.
We are not quite in desert island mode at present although closer to it than we have ever been. My main distraction has been reading although in everything I have gone through it would be hard to pick out one book that had that desert island quality about it. I can say though that I have been most grateful for time spent with my Bible. Maybe you’re thinking: ‘He would say that wouldn’t he!’ But trust me there has been nothing more helpful to me over last year and into this present crisis than keeping company with the ancient voices of faith, the Bible people, who faced some of the worst circumstances that could fall on human experience and yet were never ultimately shaken out of their faith in a good and loving God.
Don’t get me wrong. There have been times when the words have seemed to slide off the surface of my brain, rain falling on stone as John Calvin might say. But there have been other times which I would describe as Emmaus experiences (Luke 24: 13-32) when like the two bewildered and downhearted followers of Jesus on the road my heart has burned within me and to paraphrase the old hymn Jesus was very near.
I have lived through a time when ‘spirituality’ has become fashionable and Christians have been drawn into various methods and techniques to experience the reality of God more fully. I haven’t been unaffected by this to some degree but nothing satisfies more than an open Bible and time to reflect upon a passage or even just a verse. For me that is the door that opens up to the reality of God. This is not to say that the Bible cannot be perplexing, even baffling, but it’s my conviction that what is needful to keep secure our relationship with God and live according to His ways is accessible to all.
While studying English at university one of our professors was said to be an expert at ‘hearing the voice beneath the text.‘ In other words in some unique way getting in touch with the author and his/her message. My prayer when I open the Bible is that I will not just understand but that I hear the Voice that speaks to us through the ages.
