[scouting the divine] project wordle

Wordle (visual representation) from the complete text of the group blogging project on Margaret Feinberg’s Scouting the Divine. 

 

FOLLOW THE PROJECT   |   BUY THE BOOK

[scouting the divine] closing thoughts

Thank you for the beautiful weeks of blogging and joining in on the journey of Scouting the Divine: My Search for God in Wine, Wool, and Wild Honey.
 
When I think back about my time, one of the most meaningful spiritual lessons about God as shepherd actually came from watching some geese in an old red barn while spending time with a shepherdess in Oregon. Thee geese were constantly walking around.
 
“What are they looking for?” I asked Lynne, the shepherdess.
 
“They’re looking for their eggs,” she said.

“Where are they?” I asked.
 
“I threw them in the creek,” she said.
 
My eyes bugged in disbelief. I couldn’t help blurting out—“Why?” Her actions seemed cold and cruel—a far cry from the woman I had come to know who tenderly loved on her sheep.
 
“Because they were infertile,” she said. “They never would have hatched. I need to get these geese back to their regular life. For three months they’ve been sitting on infertile eggs. The only way to get them to the life they’re supposed to be living is to take away their dead eggs.”
 
Though it sounded harsh at first, asking Lynne why, revealed her shepherd-like heart. Her answer helped me understand her action as one of compassion and wisdom not mean hearted vindictiveness. I couldn’t help but wonder how often I have sat on dreams that were never going to come to fruition.
 
As I thought back to the numerous times where God has faithfully yet painfully reminded me, “It’s time to get back to the life I have given you.” I recognize that this lesson isn’t one that I can learn just once and move on. Like many of the nuggets of wisdom and insight that I found on my journey of scouting the divine, I will need to process, apply, refine, process and reapply the truth of what living my life under the guidance of the Good Shepherd really means. But every step of the way, God is faithful. He is true. And He is worthy to be trusted.

 

Margaret Feinberg

 

FOLLOW THE PROJECT   |   BUY THE BOOK

group blogging project: scouting the divine

Perspective. When studying the Bible this is probably one of the most important things that the reader should consider.

And that’s what Margaret Feinberg offers in her latest book, scouting the divine: my search for God in wine, wool, and wild honey. In this book, Feinberg seeks to better understand the message of the Bible though conversation from people who can best relate to the stories. Check out this overview of the book from the back cover…

A Bible full of ancient truths. A woman living a modern life. Join the critically acclaimed author Margaret Feinberg as she invites readers on the spiritual adventure of a lifetime. In her quest to better understand what God wants to communicate through the Bible, Feinberg explores the symbols and metaphors within its stories. To discover these deeper meanings, she spends time with a shepherdess in Oregon, walks the fields with a farmer in Nebraska, explores a vineyard of California, and talks with a veteran beekeeper in Colorado. Along the way, she gains deeper insight about how Scripture applies to life today and discovers answers to puzzling questions. Do sheep really know their shepherd’s voice? How often does a grapevine need to be pruned? What does it mean when a land is described as overflowing with honey?

What can be more exciting that this book? How about a rock-star crew leading us through this book as we seek to generate some discussion about Feinberg’s discoveries? Over the next few weeks one person from this project will lead us through each part of the book sharing their thoughts, perspectives, and feelings.

The schedule along with who will be sharing is as follows:

• introduction – Dan King, @bibledude (bibledude.net)

1. the good shepherd – Don F Perkins, @donfperkins (Shizuka Mura)
2. the harvest – Laura Chase, @laurachasevoice (Life 89.1 FM)
3. the land of milk and honey – Karen Spears Zacharias, @karenzach (Karen Spears Zacharias)
4. the vine – Sean Wrench, @forsakengen (Forsaken Generation)

• closing thoughts – Margaret Feinberg, @mafeinberg (margaretfeinberg.com)
• project wordle

So stay tuned for some great discussion, and please feel free to jump into the comments and share your thoughts! In the meantime, here are a few things that you can do right now…

• Buy the book. It will be a much better experience for you if you follow along in your own copy of the book.
• Subscribe to updates. Get the latest posts in this series in your email inbox or favorite feed reader. This is the best way to keep up with everything!
• Tweet it up! Follow @bibledude and retweet updates from this event. If you want to share your own tweets, make sure that you use the #scouting hashtag.