For a couple of months now I have been doing a 'read the bible in a year' daily reading plan. When I started, I decided to go ahead and pick up where I was. At first, I was doing this on my Kindle, but lately I bought a new, larger print, ESV and have been doing my daily readings there. This allows me to make notes in the margins and underline things that pop out at me. I know in a few years, this beautiful bible will be tatty and covered with chicken scratch.
One interesting side effect of my weekend of silence is that I am incredibly thirsty for the scriptures. I have been reading quite a bit more than the standard daily plan... at least 2 or 3 chapters of the Hebrew scriptures, 1 or 2 of the New Testament, a psalm... and then some third book from Paul's letters. So today, for example, I read 2 chapters of Daniel, psalm 126, a chapter of Revelation and 2 chapters from Paul's first letter to Timothy. One great side effect of reading this way is that I am beginning to see themes emerge. I noticed, for example, that the exact same phrase occurred in Daniel and Revelation.. that the people had gone astray by worshiping the idols of gold and silver, wood and stone. If I hadn't read them on the same day, I might not have noticed the connection.
It is interesting to me that even as I am feeling drawn more deeply into liturgy, at the same time, I am being drawn more deeply into scripture. For me, the supposed distinction between the two is a false dichotomy. The actual word dichotomy implies that something is split into two parts that cannot overlap and are mutually exclusive. My sense is that there is nothing BUT overlap. They are two parts that weave into each other and are complimented by each other.
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