Gleaning

Gleaning is a practice of collecting what is left over from the harvest. The farmer would go through and collect the lion's share and purposefully not pick up the scraps, because that was how welfare worked then. Those who needed food could collect the scraps. Maybe welfare still works that way somewhere, but I am not familiar with it being a local practice in these parts of the world.


I am purposefully using that word in regards to my understanding of the gods. I feel like I have what is left over from the harvest of religions. Years and years of opinionated religious toils have left the field worked over, just bits and pieces of what was are now left for me to scrounge. Yet, these bits are seeds, and plant them I will.

One variety of seed is called "El Ohim." I don't entirely understand all that it is, but I know that it is plural. The "El Ohim" are the ones referred to in Genesis as "We." The "We" who made mankind in their image, "male and female." Theories suggest that the ancient texts have been written and rewritten to reflect various view points, and that seems to make sense to me. I have also heard that some believe that each word, even each letter holds significance, perhaps a meaning all its own. That also seems believable to me, but I make of it then my own accounting.

The significance continues with another word "El Elyon." El Elyon is the highest of the El Ohim. You have heard of a "man's man?" Well, El Elyon seems to be a "god's god."

Who the Els are could be highly debated, of course, like all religion, politics and child-raising... I just can't let go of the debatable, but nonetheless, all I'm saying is that I too have opinions. Don't you just love them, opinions?

My opinion is that the Bible is polytheistic, at least in part, and that opinion makes me smile and opens up my views. I have planted that seed in my thoughts, and it is growing nicely.... matter of fact, it has grown so big over the recent years that I have fully embraced the concepts of polytheism outside of the Biblical narrative as well, and that also makes me smile and opens up my views so large that the Bible is now a part of my own historical influence, a portion of my belief system. So many interesting, interesting stories of gods and god's gods, and they seem to have similarities, as if all of our ancestors grew on the same earth.... amazing, isn't it?

Just in case you would like to look into the Els a little more for yourself, if you haven't already, I recommend these links: Bible Hub Hebrew Study of elohim and Bible Hub Hebrew Study of El Elyon