Graybeards in college in the 1970’s will remember The Moody Blues 7th album, "Every Good Child Deserves Favour", and the opening track which had only three words: desolation, creation, communication. The greatest of the three is communication, for though the cry of desolation grabs attention, it is the voicing of communication that provides the shift to a series of themes that provide a timeline of music and demonstrates the ability of music to communicate at a visceral level.
Communication at the level of intellect is subtle and complex. Some use the spoken and written word to promote ideas and excite without analysis of the veracity of the idea, and others will speak and write to spread the seed of skepticism of any idea and promote nihilism. Thoughtful, curious, and analytical souls will seek ways to understand the literature, stories, traditions, and values of communities—local and distant. This curiosity and self examination of our own thinking is essential for growth and development at both a personal and community level. We are social and communicative creatures.
Tim Nelson is a master wordsmith. His gift is the ability to create word pictures that speak clearly to the young and old. These word pictures stir us to an analysis of our assumptions, be they personal or cultural, about scripture and how we interact with and understand scripture. Three important questions we must continually ask ourselves are: What do I know? How do I know what I know? What do I do as a result of what I know? As Tim points out, the Bible is a significant part of our cultural heritage, and it is valuable to ponder its words, whether one is casually curious or a longtime student of the text. Tim will be a helpful and trustworthy companion in this quest. I look forward to each episode of Word Pictures!
