The Reading of Scripture.

'And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.

'In response Jesus said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again." And His disciples heard it.

'Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.

'And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away."
'So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God.

'For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.'

-- Mark 11:13-14; 20-23

Reading this passage this morning, I recalled hearing it from a man in New York almost twenty years ago. He applied it to himself and said he hoped this would not be his fate on the day of judgment, to be cursed by the Lord to fruitlessness.

This then put me in mind of how strange and wonderful is the Holy Scripture. Because it is a common treasure, reading it privately is still a most public thing. So may thoughts, memories, associations, etc... arise when considering the holy words.

I suppose that our "hermeneutical community" is therefore of great importance as we strive to understand and ingest the blessed words. Perhaps its a good thing to have a few saints and angels watching over us as we read. It keeps our minds on the things that are above, as the scripture says...