Friday, April 28, 2006

online tracking

After posting yesterday about how I was behind and not sure about what day we were on to catch up, I remembered Jen told me about the official website that once you sign up (for free) it will provide you with the day you are on, and what verses you should read AND you can read the verses online (or print them if you don't like trees).
There are also additional features (Like a large blog) that I have not had a chance to go through yet.
Go to: http://www.biblein90days.com

You'll see a tab/box about registering. Enter your starting date of Easter Sunday (4/16/06) and that's pretty much it.
A belated thanks to Jen for this.
-cyen

In the reading I did last night, it struck me... I wonder how short the Bible would be if you eliminated all the repetition? I wonder if that will be the next translation from Zondervan... A Bible edited for content :)

Numbers 11

I must say the dialogue between Moses and God in Numbers 11 sounds oddly familiar. Is there a pastor alive who hasn't asked God what s/he had done to deserve being stuck in the wilderness with such a bunch of whiners?? I particularly like the part where Moses tells the people God is going to send them so much meat, "it will come out their nostrils and become loathsome to them." I've had days like that.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

I've fallen...

Perhaps the first of this group to have fallen behind?
(For some reason this does not come as a surprise to me ;)
I had a 4-5 day vacation mixed in and didn't want to carry another book on the plane with me, so I thought I could just borrow my sister's Bible when I got there. She never gave it to me! (Did I get a rise out of you Sis with that comment? ;) She did give it to me, but usually by the time I got around to reading it I was so tired from that day's events that I only made it about 2 chapters until my eyelids were slammed shut.
So I'm way behind. I'm going to take my sister's advice and skip a portion then try to come back to it, so that I can stay up to date with the the rest of you. I'm going to finish Exodus, then catch up. So I hope none of you give away the ending to the book Leviticus!
So what day are we on now?
-Cyen

I'll add my comment about Exodus here even though most of you have passed this point...
Was it me, or did I mis-read the comments in Exodus...
During the time when Moses and Aaron were bringing all of the curses upon Pharoh and his land, it said that God had "hardened the pharoh's heart", Yet God was the one coming up with the curses? I didn't get this point at all. This also seems to go against free will.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Still behind, but--

Isn't it fascinating that the rules for living together in Exodus 21 - 23 are so focused on the material possessions that refugees would be unlikely to have? They really extend to what would be needed for an established community of farmers and herdsfolk. This is the kind of section that makes a good argument for not swallowing the Bible whole, so to speak, but for seeking the context and learning what history is available about the early documents. It's not unlike solving a puzzle.

And sometimes it's not a puzzle, but an image so universally human that when it was written down matters not a bit:

7The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; 8they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt! Exodus 32:7-8

Yep, been there and done that, in my own imaginative way. We human beings are still striving to get the message, aren't we?

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Hey, maybe it has something to say to me!

Okay, kidding a bit, because I absolutely believe the Bible has something to say to me. But today I was reading Exodus 18(yes, I'm a little behind, still working to catch up with the group), and after all those plagues earlier on, and a feeling of disconnection from the so-familiar story of Moses and Pharoah, I was surprised to read something that hit me right between the eyes.

The next day Moses sat as judge for the people, while the people stood around him from morning until evening. When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, while all the people stand around you from morning until evening?” Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make known to them the statutes and instructions of God.” Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. You will surely wear yourself out, both you and these people with you. For the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone. Now listen to me. I will give you counsel, and God be with you! You should represent the people before God, and you should bring their cases before God; teach them the statutes and instructions and make known to them the way they are to go and the things they are to do. You should also look for able men among all the people, men who fear God, are trustworthy, and hate dishonest gain; set such men over them as officers over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Let them sit as judges for the people at all times; let them bring every important case to you, but decide every minor case themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people will go to their home in peace.” (Exodus 18:13-23, NRSV)

One of the things I have found tricky about coming to pastoral ministry as a mother is my impatience with delegating tasks I know I can accomplish more quickly myself. And there is also the seductive lure of believing I know better, since I am the one with training and gifts and skills...and eventually craziness, from trying to do too many things and be too many people all at the same time.

A wise woman I admire greatly once described her hopes for a colleague, that the colleague might "learn how to do less." I feel such a need to read more and write more, and I look around the work part of my life and see so many commitments, all interesting, but all encroaching on that time for developing the inner life, for doing "self-care," for making those nursing home calls with the regularity I would like.

Thank you, Jethro, father-in-law of Moses, for putting it so clearly!

Leviticus

I have to say I'm finding Leviticus tough going. It's hard to keep your eyes from crossing with boredom on all those tedious details. But there are also (certainly unintentional) funny parts. Like you can eat grasshoppers, but not pigs. And whenever they mention a wave offering, I have visions of high school football stadiums trying to get a "wave" going. I really have to hand it to our Jewish bretheren and sistern who created the whole Talmud thing to make this more interactive and interesting--perhaps more creative than the Christian solution: this doesn't count anymore, just skip it.

Monday, April 24, 2006

Barnraising

A few days behind in posting...I like how in Exodus the people are "stiff necked", making golden calfs and all, and God breaks in and gives detailed instructions for a group project, the tabernacle. I guess God figures it'd be good to get them working together on something, maybe that'll help them to get them focused. So they all go and get the goat skins, earrings and yarn that they have and it gets incorporated into the tabernacle. Then they buckle down and get to work together. I like the image of a sacred place woven together of common items from lots of folks.

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Distance & Resonance

This time around I have been experiencing the distance between now and then perhaps more than anything else as I read. And for some reason, I have felt some sadness about this, almost like grief. Because it all starts to feel merely foreign and in that way, irrelevant.

And I feel genuine grief at this thought because for some years now the Bible has resonated with me. And I mean that in the same way that a note vibrates to life as the bow moves across a string. Scripture has had resonance in this way. As if my own life would vibrate into being whenever Scripture came into contact with it.

I'm wondering if maybe it is the breakneck pace of reading through so many chapters in such a short amount of time that makes me feel the distance more than the resonance. There is no time to savor, as Lorna warned us would be the case. There isn't time to let the words (the Word) do their work in me. So the surface repels. I read of oxen and blood. And altars. And mountains. And thunder. And pillars of cloud. And 'angels' going on ahead. And legal codes for murder or theft. And I skim off the surface of the page and think: "What does this possibly have to do with us?"

But the question itself, as I ask it, seems to drive me deeper. It has everything to do with us, in a way. I am constantly astounded by God's attention to detail. In Genesis, God opens wombs. In Exodus, God is concerned with fabric, and goats' hair, and sending manna like dew for daily meals. And the intimacy with God when God eats and drinks with the people. With all God's bluster (and there is a lot of bluster), God is still so accessible. Moses meets with God face to face to discuss daily concerns.

When I take the lens of relationship to my reading, then I encounter a God who longs for it. And I see to what extent God goes to experience that relationship with humanity. This does not seem distant to me, though the oxen and the blood remain that way. When I experience it all in terms of relationship, then I feel the resonance again.

***

Having said this, I know that part of the grief I am experiencing right now has to do with all of the ways Scripture has been misused (ab-used) over the centuries. In Genesis when I read of Noah and his sons, I thought of the ways that text was used to justify slavery. When I read of the grand plan to remove every remnant of the Canaanites, I think of the land struggles in Israel/Palestine going on today. When I read about Sodom and Gomorrah, I grieved for the abuse of this story to oppress GLBT folks.

And for this reason, I feel like I'm also embracing the distance that I experience as I read. When we don't feel that, when we think that it all must apply directly somehow, then horrible, horrible things can (and all too often do) result. There is some gift in acknowledging "that is not me. Then is not now."

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Where are you up to?

Hi fellow travelers,

I have embarked on what should be a interesting journey with you. Unfortunately started a little bit after you and so am already playing catch up!

I have printed of the Zondervan Reading plan to try and help keep me on track.
Where are you up to so I can try and join you hopefully by the end of the week end?

Blessed reading

Revem

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Still here

Just a quick note to say that I'm still here and still up-to-date. Things have been hectic for me lately and I still have not found a notepad to keep by my side for this, but I hope when things calm down I'll be able to post more. What are we on now, day three only? I can see that this will be tough to keep to the 90days, but I can also see that this is "do-able".
I am going to throw a few random thoughts out here... Wish I had more time to formulate more for this post...
These opening stories are like a bad day-time soap opera!
I'm struck by how "silly" some of these stories are... Imagine building a tower to reach God... And then God being afraid that it may just work...?
We're given the entire creation of the universe/world in a few chapters, but it seems more important to chronicle family genealogy?
The part where Abraham is "negotiating" with God on the destruction of Sodom just struck me funny as well. This is GOD we're talking about right? He's trying to argue with Him like a little kid trying to eat his broccoli with his parents.
I also struck by all the killings, fear of killings, lying, child birth, prejudice, slavery, sleeping of who with whom, etc... Some of these people are not "good" people.
I'm also taken with how they are almost bragging about having enough children to populate an entire city! This seems so very important to them to populate large areas with their own.
I'm also noting how there is a sort of bragging to how much "bling" each brother/family has... When I read about how "x" has 30 sheep, 30 cows, 40 servants, etc... I am picturing that in today's terms... "x" has 30 plasma TV's, 30 SUV's, etc...
Well, all of these topics could be expanded upon immensely but no time now... Must read... :)
PS> I am finding that it is better for me to read half in the morning when I first awake, then the other half at night.
PS2> I really like the post-it note idea too.
-cyen

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

We've been blessed . . .

Phew, getting into some of the hard-to-stomach texts again, especially the story of Dinah. Awful.

I'm too zonked out tonight to write anything. But want to encourage our blog members to read the comment left by Lorna (see-through-faith) in the first entry of our site, here. It's a beautiful blessing.

Monday, April 17, 2006

Uz the Firstborn, Buz his Brother (Gen 22:21)

Okay, this entry has nothing to do with the title. I just got to that line in the reading tonight and it amused me tremendously. Uz and Buz, huh? I've got an image of Larry, Darrell and Darrell in my head from the 80s Newhart show. :)

Tonight's reading impressed me in its distinctiveness from yesterday's reading. Those opening chapters of Genesis are so swooningly cosmological--such grand stages, this creation of the earth and its peopling! this banishment from paradise and the eventual destruction of the world! this coupling with the Nephalim and the building of gigantic towers that ascend into heaven itself.

Then, the intimate space of Abram and Sarai. Of intimacy, betrayal, pregnancy, slaves, newborns, odd deals, and so on. No less drama then the opening chapters, but the camera has gone from extremely wide angle to extreme close up.

Though a larger story is being told as well. We discover the origins of the peoples that Israel will encounter in her future. (So the Moabites and Ammonites are children of incest. They must just love that narrative beginning to their histories!)

I simply love Genesis. I love the way it places us, yes, with all that cosmological stuff. But I also love the fraility of the people depicted in the pages we read today. I certainly recognize myself in them. All the times I get it wrong.

Maybe it's just where I am right now, but I sure did notice this time that God took God's good ol' time in taking the first step of fulfilling the promise to Abe.

Day One, Genesis 1-15

DanaMarie wrote below:

First, struck by how Moses can't write! Reminds me of a terrible Danielle Steele book I was stuck reading - it was so horribly written and repetitive I wanted to throw it across the room. Moses needed an editor!

Well, I wouldn't blame it all on Moses! I believe most scholars today would tell us the "Books of Moses" were actually written by about four different authors, then edited together by one redactor. This explains certain repetitions and contradictions. The redactor made a choice to give the reader as *much* as possible, it seems, and that results in both confusion and riches. Think about the family stories you’ve heard that are told slightly differently by Grandma and Uncle Joe and Cousin Hattie. There’s truth in all their versions, but what is ultimate truth?

The images of nakedness struck me as well. Nakedness without shame means living in vulnerability and openness, to God and to one another. The “knowledge” gained by eating of the tree brings shame about our natural state that is still with us. Interesting that learning to be ashamed brings about punishment.

I like to read these stories trying to get inside what the authors wanted us to know about the human condition and their understanding of our relationship to the divine, by whatever name they called the Creator. These early stories about God/YHWH/Elohim sound much like stories of other gods in the same era – walking and talking with humans, not knowing everything, getting fed up with humans, fearing that humans will become like gods. Poweful, yes, but all-powerful? It’s such a contrast with Genesis 1 and the God who breaks forth all matter from chaos into forms that support life.

I'm reading from the NRSV given to my son when he was confirmed, mostly because it's light enough to hold in bed, unlike my gigantic HarperCollins Study Bible. I'm kind of wishing for the large print, however, and may go and look for the TNIV later in the week.

On to Chapter 16! (More passing off of wife as sister! What was that guy thinking?)

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Day 1 - Opening Impressions

I knew it had been awhile since I'd opened my bible when I found the first pages of Genesis all scrunched together with a big creased wrinkle in them. Terrible! So my reading time began with trying to smooth out the pages.

So far I'm using my bible from seminary, which has all my notes from my Old Testament class penciled into the margins. (It's actually a great joy to go through them again.)

This time reading Genesis, I was noticing a few things: that God asks Adam where he is hiding and God asks Cain where his brother is; that nakedness shows up in Gen 3 after the fall and in 9:19 immediately after the flood abates; how quickly we get to Abram and the promise (12:3) after the creation/destruction stories; the way the tower of Babel seems to pair with the flood in the same way the second creation story pairs with the first.

Such beauty in those first pages of Genesis!

And finally, my question: what is the deal with the Nephilim (6:4)??? :)

First step...

What's that old saying? A journey of 1000 miles begins with the first step... I've taken that first step today.
I just went out (I know I didn't have to, but any excuse to go to a bookstore is a good one!) and bought the 90 day bible from Zondervan. I almost ordered it through Amazon, but thought, Let me check the store first. B&N didn't have it, so I went over to Borders and although they didn't have the exact one that I wanted (I was going to get the "TNIV" version) I did get the NIV version ($19.99). NOTE: After reading one of the comments on the amazon.com site about the poor printing, I have to agree. The pages are SO thin that the ink from the other side of the page, and the letters from the page behind it really bleed through making it tough to read. I hope I will get used to this. I plan on using a "slip sheet" of white paper to back up the page that I'm reading.
So... Step one down, and onto the actual reading part :)
Well, 38 minutes and sleep overtook me. Not a good start, but I'm going to get back to it shortly after I finish this post and have a snack. I may have to break my reading up into two parts per day...
Cyen

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Blogging through the Bible in 90 Days

Inspired by the wonderful site Blogging through the Bible in 90 Days, but arriving too late to join in their journey, we are embarking on our own journey of Reading the Bible in 90 Days and blogging about the experience here.

If this idea interests and inspires you, I invite you to send me an email and join in with us. We're using the reading guide outlined by Zondervan on their website (click here). The goal is to go through the whole journey together, with some accountability to one another. But we hope the process will be invitational and not another drudgery on your already too full To-Do List.

We will begin our journey on Easter Sunday! But you can join in anytime. Just send me an email and let me know you'd like to travel together with us.