Bile Spreading Union

I chuckled this morning. The last page of the British Church Newspaper always has a FORTHCOMING EVENTS (DV) section. It advises gentle readers that on Tuesday 10^th September, there’ll be the annual meeting of the Bile Spreading Union down in Plymouth. I noticed the same event and use of ‘bile’ in the next issue and wondered if it wasn’t a typo but a genuine endeavour. As bile is defined as the ‘bitter greenish-brown fluid which aids digestion’ found in all humans, one might be surprised to discover the existence of an organisation committed to its better promotion and greater distribution. I could find no online trace of so laudable an association, so I reverted to my initial opinion that the BCN, like myself, is not immune from making typographical errors.

I dare say there’s many a secularist wit who has omitted the L from Bible to support the notion that scripture promotes ‘anger, bitterness, or irritability’, bile’s second definition. It teaches that there are two genders, marriage is for a man and a woman, that salvation is found in Christ alone, that morality is objective and absolute. This all flies in the face of the current, popular worldview, lending support to the claim that Bible Christianity is dangerous and harmful. 

Bile, though not a liquid in which one might seek to take a bath or drink after supper, is actually rather good for us. It is made in the liver and stored in the gall bladder, and has two essential functions within the body:

-Its acids are essential for digestion and the absorption of fats and fat-soluble vitamins in the intestine.

-Many waste products are eradicated from the body by secretion into bile and elimination in faeces.

In other words, we’d waste much of the goodness in our food and fail to discharge the leftovers if we didn’t have it. If I cannot access vitamins and get rid of the waste within me, I’m not likely to live very long.

Maybe the typo was not as inappropriate as it appears. The Bible allows us to access and absorb good spiritual truth in ways in which our simple minds can cope. For example, it often uses poetry, parables and simple language to communicate spiritual truth too sublime for our fallen, natural minds to comprehend. 

Secondly, it points out that which is bad and harmful with the view to saving us away from such danger. Whereas the world tells that lust, for example, is good, scripture says it is harmful and dangerous. The world tells me to be proud of myself; the Bible warns me lest I fall. Worldly wisdom urges me to get rich, for in excess money lies happiness; the Bible warns against this root of all kinds of evil.

The Bible, though the planet’s most printed, bought and debated book, is seldom popular. It tells us what we don’t want to hear and turns our flimsy ambitions and assumptions on their heads. Though it might taste like bile to our fallen palate, it does us much good, fitting us for a land of milk and honey. 

If a Bile Spreading Union does not exist, I demand one be established. Who’s with me?

Image by Amberrose Nelson from Pixabay