What does one think about lying, in the ER as paperwork is
processed, x-rays studied, decisions made?
What to focus on so as to keep from going bonkers during two and a half
hours on the operating table? Or waiting
for sleep in a strange room with unfamiliar lights and sounds? I’m relieved to say I had a recently acquired
resource. In the
weeks leading up to this accident I had been memorizing my own
mixed-translation version of John's prologue, in the Christian Bible.
I printed and pocketed the text, then pondered and practiced it while walking
of a morning. Having something positive
to focus on while I was in these situations was helpful and calming. Here's my version.
In the
beginning was the Word. The Word was in
fellowship with God the Father. And the Word
was, as to his essence, absolute deity.
This Word was, in the beginning, close beside God.
All things
came into existence through him, and without him, there came into being not
even one thing that exists.
Life was in
him. And this life was the light of the
human race. The light is constantly
shining in the darkness, and the darkness did not overwhelm it.
The Word
was the light that spiritually enlightens every human being. This Word, the genuine light, was coming into
the cosmos.
He was in
the world and the world was made through him, and the world did not recognize
him. He came to what was his own, and
his own people did not accept him. But
to anyone who did accept him, he gave the right to become born ones of God,
God's children, yes, to anyone who believed in his name. They were born not from blood, or from
physical passion, or from the intention of a man, but from God.
And the
Word became flesh and lived among us, pitched a tent among us, moved into the
neighborhood. And we saw his glory, glory
as of the Father's one and only, full of grace and truth.
Out of his
full store we have all received grace upon grace.
For the
law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus the Anointed.
No one has
ever gazed upon the fullness of God's
splendor, but the one and only Son—who is himself God, uniquely
begotten, and who is intimately close to the Father—he has made him known, has
unfolded for us the full explanation of who God truly is.
NIV, NT Wright, David Bently Hart, Kenneth S Wuest, NEB, Message, Passion translation mix
