Tag: Bible

Bible Book Reviews! EXODUS today!

~ Brianne Turczynski ~ Leave a comment

I have no authority to teach you about any of these wonderful books, so if you read on, please take what I say lightly. As a writer I find the Bible an interesting home for allegory, I could decipher every line for a lifetime of endless fun for me, but for you, I can only communicate what I learned. Perhaps you disagree and that’s OK!

Exodus is the story of Moses trying to convince the Pharaoh to release the Israelites so they can worship in the wilderness for three days. The word ‘wilderness’ to me is very significant, but I won’t talk about that today. My first notes on this book are below… “Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.” -Exodus 5:2 *First, you should understand my thinking that there are two lives we live. One life we live in the world (as a consumer for ourselves), one life we live in the spirit (a giver to others). We can choose to live in one life more than the other.* “To me Pharaoh represents the ‘world’ which constantly distracts us & pulls us away from God (life in the spirit) in every news report, in every advertisement, in every new ‘this’ and new ‘that’. We are perpetually distracted by a world that asks with blatant indifference, ‘who is the Lord?’. Moses here wants to ‘free’ the people who wish to live in the spirit, today we might think of this freedom as a freedom from addiction, freedom from selfishness, freedom from guilt, from arrogance, from pride and cynicism. The world perpetuates all of these qualities by making us blind to what is TRUTH & LOVE. 💕💕💕

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Reviewing the book of John

~ Brianne Turczynski ~ Leave a comment

I will share with you my first journal entry I wrote after reading this book which is one of the four Gospels. Starts with a quote then my thoughts:

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“Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” – John 3:3

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I have been working on an essay concerning the term ‘born again’. The term was akin to a curse word in our family growing up, as we had bad experiences with born again Christians which completely turned some of us off religion. Though I would say reading scripture solidified my journey in faith, so that I have indeed been born again. But no one laid hands on me to do it. No one said, ‘you are now saved’. These kind of theatrics reek of BS. 

I believe the transformation happens internally in many private “conversations” you have with your own spirit, your own soul. So to say I’m born again sounds strange to some people, and I wouldn’t just say it because they wouldn’t understand (yet I just said it). 

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What I mean to say is that I killed a part of myself off (the cynical & proud) and dove deeper into my own spirituality, made it richer and fuller and was therefore born anew in my own faith. But rather, instead of calling myself born again, do I dare say I was resurrected?

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I think I would.

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What about you?   

Bible Talk: Brief intro to Genesis

~ Brianne Turczynski ~ 5 Comments

Enjoy these pictures of Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit!

Part of Genesis is a lesson about diversity & inclusion.

It is 50 chapters. I have 20 pages of notes on it, but I will try to explain what I got out of it to the best of my ability. I hope I can do it some justice. I hope my words make sense. 😬☕️

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FIRST SENTENCE of the BIBLE:

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” -Genesis 1:1-2

And at the end of each day, God saw that what he had accomplished was good. …………………..

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If you’re going to love others, love them with all your heart. If you’re going to work with others, work with all your heart. If you are going to help others, help with all your heart. Feed others with all your heart. Share with all your heart, etc.. You get it. .

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I put the words “(with)others” in there, because it is one way we can incorporate God into the conversation without mentioning His name.

But also, anyone can be a saint when they don’t have to interact with people. It is how we treat each other that really tests our patience, our courage, our strength, & our generosity, we change and grow this way. First line again: “Now the earth was formless and empty.” We too are formless and empty until we interact with other creatures/people and allow ourselves to be tried and tested (change and grow) by the interaction. Only then can we truly find love, find ourselves, and find God. 💕

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There are so many lessons in Genesis. We’d really need a whole week (or more) to discuss them all, and I know most people don’t read everyone’s posts. Consider this a basic summing up. VERY BASIC! If anything the creation story is about diversity and inclusion. .

Pictured is a portion of a Gwen Frostic poem.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

~ Brianne Turczynski ~ Leave a comment

Gearing up for our Bible talk on Genesis tomorrow? Here’s something…

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Not a favorite of mine, because it did not bring me joy but rather left me with the darkness of humanity. It is Steinbeck’s allegorical retelling of the book of Genesis. Featuring twins Cal and Aron. One good, one bad.

Question: What is east of Eden?

Answer: The land of Nod, where no purity exists.

More tomorrow on Genesis!

Tune in Every Friday for Bible talks!

~ Brianne Turczynski ~ Leave a comment

Anyone who has ever wanted to read the Bible but felt too overwhelmed by the task can check out my feed for a quick summary and discussion of the books. I will share what I thought with quotes etc. I am not a fundamentalist, I look at much of the Bible allegorically. You’ll see what I mean come Friday! We will start with Genesis.

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The Bible has been the source of inspiration for many authors in the past—Steinbeck, Maugham, Harper Lee, just to name a few. As a writer, and a person of faith, I felt it was in my best interest to read the whole thing.

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Also, this is a safe space. I do not discriminate age, sex, gender, ethnicity, religion, or skin color. ALL are welcome! These posts are meant to deliver to you some peace.

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P.S. I will not be going in chronological order! 😀

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#bookish #bibleverse #bible #biblejournaling #bookshelf #episcopalian #bibliophile #booknerdigans #library #literature #reading #readersofinstagram #writersofinstagram #bookgeek #religion #bookworm #booklove #bookstagrammer #johnsteinbeck #harperlee #maugham

Today I review the Bible

~ Brianne Turczynski ~ 2 Comments

A couple weeks ago I finished the Bible. I read it in a year, taking an hour every morning to read three chapters. I filled three notebooks of my thoughts—arguments and extensions—of what I thought everything meant.

There are 4,200 religions in the world. That is almost as many as there are languages spoken. Proof that God speaks to us all differently, in the ways only we can hear Him. Of the four most popular religions, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism—the very center of all of their teachings is love. It is important that we understand each other through love, because that is TRULY what these religions teach us whether you’re black, white, brown, red, or blue, whether you are gay, straight, trans, etc., love should be EVERYTHING! 💕

It has been said in my family that my beloved great Grandpa—even in passing he is still my hero—saw a vision of the Blessed Mother twice. She spoke to him in Italian, and he never told anyone what she said. He prayed to her every night and had this small painting (pictured)of her praying by his bedside. It came with him from Italy and is over 100 years old. I have it now and remember him always.

The Book Wisdom of Solomon is considered an apocryphal book meaning it did not make the cut into some Bibles, but I think it’s beautiful so, there you go. .