Shedding tears for a prophet taken

"Yeah I know, shut up." That's at least how I translated Elisha's response to the company of prophets who insisted upon reminding this young prophet that his beloved master was about to pass from his presence. I relayed that to my adult Sunday school class this morning, and I think they thought I was a little off. But I fear we often read Elisha without the emotion that drips from the pages of 2 Kings. If ever there was an historical passage that illumines the humanity of God's prophets, this is it. On a day when we encounter Christ's disciples coming face to face with the divinity of Christ and the caught-in-the-middle-somewhereness of Moses and Elijah and the inevitable death of this Son of Man they've only begun to know and love, emotion seems completely appropriate.

I've been trying my hand at biblical storytelling. What I've found it that these stories we know by heart start to take on a whole new vitality when told aloud with all the emotion one can put into the reading, as one might do with a storybook and a group of children. The difference is, this is the living word of God coming to our ears in just a slightly different tone, inviting us to engage with not only our ears, but our hearts, eyes, movements, and emotions.

Elisha was crying, screaming for the master he respected...and loved as one loves a father. We needn't confine his response to Elijah's departure to a soft reading lacking all the lament and devastation our human hearts know was there. Hence, my "shut up" translation a little earlier. For what it's worth, I picture him slapping the water with all his might, too. Nothing noble or graceful, just frantic splashing.

For the next few weeks I would like to invite you to join me in an audible reading of the New Testament. Take some time and read large portions of scripture aloud. Put yourself in the shoes of each character and see the events of each narrative through their eyes. Read aloud. Shout when necessary, cry if you need to. Let the word sink into your soul in a new way.

I'd love to hear what you discover.