I love going to the public library. I could literally spend hours there, just browsing all the books that I know I don’t have time to read. I went last week looking for a few books to help out with a practicum project I’ll be doing this summer. I didn’t find anything that was especially helpful, but I did stumble across a collection of sermons by Martin Luther King, Jr. As I opened it up, a brown sheet of paper fell from its pages…a handwritten note from a young lady. Here’s what the note said:

So, its getting nearer to my move to be with you. I am moving clear across the USA to be in a relationship with you, Spencer. In Chile, we (me) rationalized why this is a good plan either way because I already wanted to move yadaa yadaa yadaa 🙂 But the everyday rela reality of my decision will put us in a very serious relationship. When I think of this in relation to you, the guy I’m crazy about & want to be with & learn from & laugh with & sleep with & go all over the planet with, I am ready. When I think of it in relation to trusting myself, I get scared. The “trusting myself” issue comes from the fact that I’ve had my heart broken. It wasn’t too long ago either. Since I was 18, I was free to see other guys From 18-22 I described my status as single w/ a boyfriend. I know its dumb, but he called the shots – & I followed. So – I saw other guys even though on the condition that they knew I didn’t really care for them, only for the time being. Now I have to teach myself how to love you, truely love you. Not to be truely fond of you like the others. You are not like the others. You & I are creating something 100% true & positive, the relationship I’ve always wanted.

That’s it. No conclusion. No signature. I have no idea if Spencer ever got his letter. No idea if the author trusted herself enough to move across the country to be with him. And I have no idea if she ever figured out how to spell truly.

But after reading Truely’s note, I started thinking about my attempts to interpret her letter are so similar to our attempts to interpret Scripture sometimes. It’s dangerous to come to certain conclusions based on hearing / reading only one side of the correspondence. What if Spencer wasn’t interested in Truely anymore? What if he was leading her on? What if he found a girl who could actually spell? Thankfully, we have many more exegetical tools at our disposal when it comes to Scripture (unless I can find a Greek variant of Truely’s letter…maybe it’s stuck in the library’s copy of The Gospel of Thomas). But it’s not the attempt to interpret Scripture that’s so difficult; it’s the attempt to interpret the truth behind Scripture that’s difficult. Let’s face it; even our best words fall miserably short of articulating much about God. We claim that God is a holy God (and I believe this is our best word to describe Him), but what does that really mean? We’re forced to acknowledge the limits of language here. Holy is simply the best word available to us to describe a Being who fully transcends our comprehension. I can exegete Isaiah 6, but in my finitude can I really understand what I’m saying when I say God is infinitely holy?

Truely, I hope you found happiness either with Spencer or with someone else. Thanks for reminding me that our preaching and reading of texts must be done with great humility and patience.