St. Paul's Episcopal Church
  • About
  • Worship
  • Our Ministries
  • News
  • Stewardship
  • Resources
  • Preschool
  • About
  • Worship
  • Our Ministries
  • News
  • Stewardship
  • Resources
  • Preschool

News

“I’m trying to convey a feeling that’s true.”

Jeff Tweedy—the singer and guitarist behind Wilco, the band—wrote a book about songwriting recently. In an interview, someone asked him how songwriting differed from other types of writing, including the kind that a journalist might do. “You’re trying to convey what’s factually true,” he told the journalist. “I’m trying to convey a feeling that’s true.”

That thought has lingered with me. It is something I think about every time I read Scripture, too.

The Bible is composed of a lot of different kinds of writing, sometimes lacking smooth transitions or a clear narrative structure. You will find poetry and song imbedded in historical accounts; stories that predate recorded human history alongside events in the lives of the people called Israel 2,000 years ago.

We are tempted to draw the whole thing together into an account that conforms to our modern sensibilities: we want it to tell us the truth, much like a scientist might tell us the temperature at which water boils. This is at the heart of what many take to be the conflict between science and religion. And yet sometimes, it is easier to find answers about how things work than to discover why things are the way they are. These questions don’t conflict with one another, really, and yet we need different tools in order to approach them. Scripture offers us and entryway into the latter: a training ground for asking about the why behind human existence. It doesn’t always provide us clear answers, but it does help us ask better questions.

Let us seek the truth, wherever it is to be found. And let us rejoice in the goodness of God’s handiwork as we engage with the words of Scripture—words that speak the truth, if we would but listen.

—Fr. Javier

Tags: From the Clergy, Hope for the Journey

You might also like

  • Pastoral Response to Texas Elementary School Shooting - May 26, 2022
  • “Hope is a song in a weary throat.” - May 13, 2022
  • Hope for the Journey: Keeping the Feast - April 29, 2022
  • Hope for the Journey: Implications of Jesus on the Cross - April 14, 2022

The Way Forward in 2022

Hope For The Journey – A Conversation on Religion and Democracy

2022 Stewardship

Pledge Online

Direct Donation

Weekly Updates

➤ Rector’s Weekly Update
➤ This week’s prayer list

Worship Service

➤ Sign-Up for In-Person Worship
➤ Altar Flowers Donation

Photos

View parish photos on Smugmug.

Search Site

Recent Homilies

Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?

Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?

Yesterday
  • by Rev. Javier Almendárez-Bautista
On the Third Sunday after Pentecost, Fr. Javier reflects on the nature of transi
Fear Can Be Our Teacher

Fear Can Be Our Teacher

June 20, 2022
  • by Rev. Alice Graham Grant
The sudden transformation of others can be frightening to us. What happens when
What Picture Will You Use of Me

What Picture Will You Use of Me

June 12, 2022
  • by Rev. George Adamik
Trinity Sunday invites us into reimagining God as The Divine Dance.

Archived Homilies are here

Contact

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
221 Union St., Cary, NC 27511

Phone: 919-467-1477
Fax: 919-467-0152
Office Hours: M-F 9-3

Summer Worship Schedule

7:30 a.m. Sunday Service
9:00 a.m. Sunday Service
10:45 a.m. Sunday Service

View information about our services and COVID-19 guidelines.

Join us for our livestreamed service at 9:00 AM on Sundays on Facebook.

Site Map
Copyright © St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Cary, NC