Day 11 I had a lot of emotions with this book. What came to mind when I was reading this was: “This is like reading biblical tabloids.” And it really is. You’ve got Elijah comin’ on down with miracles followed by Elisha, all of these other gods creeping into Israel and Judah, a !@#$load of […]
Day 9 The books of Samuel were a delight. There was a lot of warfare, but woven throughout there was great intrigue. Love, betrayal, redemption, anguish, and — as with so much of the Bible, raw humanity. Second Samuel didn’t disappoint. I found myself reading the stories differently. I let go of a lot of […]
Day 8 This book isn’t really about Samuel that much. Here we find the story of the first king of Israel, Saul, followed by the preferred first king, David. This book gets a lot of attention in queer circles and I can completely see why now. Jonathan and David were very close. The text says […]
Day 7 Judges: Honestly, all I am feeling after reading Judges is that it was like a fever dream. Sure, there’s a regular pattern to the stories. Israel falls from grace, they’re oppressed for their sin, and a “judge” rescues them or leads them to victory every time. But what the @#$%? There’s some great […]
Day 5 Well, it felt like it took something like 40 days to read the Torah, but here I am, at the end. Deuteronomy emphasized that feeling. The book really is a summary of the story of Moses, the Exodus, the covenant, and the law. If you just have time for one book of the […]
Day 4 This is a rough book to read. It jumps around from priestly codes, which are always very thorough and precise, to the woes of the Hebrew people in the wilderness, lists of lineages, expectations of lineages, God and Moses are always angry, and then a talking donkey. I felt myself connecting with the […]
Day 2 I have a rather tired joke (but I still enjoy it) that involves replacing “Moses” with “Charlton Heston” whenever I mention the story of the Exodus. Truth be told, it’s how a lot of people learn the story of the Hebrew people and their quest for freedom, identity, and home. Reading Exodus in […]
Day 1 So, here’s the plan. I’m going to read the entirety of the Hebrew Scriptures, Apocrypha, and Christian Scriptures in 45 days. I might allow for a mental health day in there somewhere, but we’ll see. I’m using the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (Oxford Annotated Version). I appreciate the rigor of […]
Who has time to blog in a pandemic? I’m sure there’s plenty that do. Ever read one of those food blogs that wax poetic about arugula when all you want is the damn recipe? I wonder if that’s a lucrative thing. Bless those bloggers and their poetry. Anyway. The election happened. My candidate won. Ultra-nationalist […]