“. . . thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.”

At one point in his career, the award-winning British actor, Charles Laughton, traveled from city to city giving Bible-reading demonstrations. He was so skilled at what he did that he often left his audience in reverent, awed silence. But, after one reading, a seventy-year old man rose and said he, too, would like to share his favorite Bible verse. There was an awkward moment until Laughton nodded his assent and the old man began to read from a worn, dog-eared Bible.

Immediately, it became clear that he was no actor. . .that he lacked the diction and the elocution of Charles Laughton. At the same time, it was also clear to everyone that, if this had been a Bible-reading contest, Charles Laughton would have finished a distant second.

When the evening ended, a reporter sought out Laughton and asked him for his reaction to the old man’s reading. Laughton thought for a moment, looked at the reporter and said:

“Well, sir, I knew the script and I knew it well. But that old man. . . that old man knew the author.”

In today’s reading from the Book of Mark, a scribe asked Jesus to name the greatest commandment. The scribe knew his Bible, and he knew it well. Yet, Christ told him, “Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.” In other words, he still had a way to go. The scribe's book knowledge wasn't enough. He knew the letter of the law but, as a believer, he also had to know the spirit of the law. He had to experience God’s presence in a personal way.

Bible study cannot be an academic exercise or we will fall into the same trap as the scribes. Remember how they responded when Herod asked where Jesus had been born? “Bethlehem of Judea,” they replied without hesitation. They knew their scripture. They knew the prophecy. But none of them rushed off to the manger. Never even came close.

Spiritual knowledge differs from book knowledge. The Bible can take us a long way but it's just the beginning. For us to know God spiritually, we must interact with Him. As we read scripture, it helps to insert our name in place of the name of a character in each passage. We need to feel ourselves drawing closer to Christ, imagine Jesus talking directly to us. Then act on what He tells us.

Most days, the first part of the Great Commandment - - the part about loving God - - isn't that hard. It's the second part about loving "your neighbor" that usually takes some doing. That's when we find out how close we are to the Kingdom.

We’ve all encountered people who just don’t look very lovable. They’re unkempt, unsmiling and downright rude. They’re the prickly, cantankerous “cockle bur” characters, who get under our skin and rub us the wrong way. Our first impulse is to avoid them. Our second impulse is to feel superior to them - - as if we are “nearer my God to thee.” But, today’s Gospel calls us to take a second look: those unlovable characters may have been sent to remind us that we have a lot of growing left to do. Like the scribe in today’s Gospel, we still have a way to go.