Tuesday, April 19, 2011

All Along The Watchtower.....

So sue me. I haven't been blogging. It's been like...ahem...3 WEEKS! I haven't forgot you old dear blog....
 :( I just...don't have anything to say. It's sad since I tend to have A LOT to say, but usually it's nothing to go out and tell the world about. This blog was mainly started to talk about my journey with my faith, and I finally started doing it when my mom was diagnosed with cancer. The blog then was fueled by my reading of the Old Testament, and the things I was thinking, feeling, experiencing while reading it. Well, brace yourself, I've stopped reading it.

Don't get mad! It's not permanent, it's not even intentional, I just haven't been doing it. I think I got burned out. I was reading up to a book a night. Which is a lot, at least to me. I think the issue started when I got to Psalms. *Pausing for gasp.* Yes, I know everyone loves the Psalms. Why would she ever have a problem with them?!?!?

 OK, the problem with Psalms is, it's very very very long. Like 150 Chapters long. Another problem is, I'm reading the contemporary version of The Bible, "The Message." It is GREAT! Don't get me wrong, it's doing all the things I'm needing it to do. It's explaining and telling me the story of God, Jesus, Faith, Love in a very easy was for me to read and understand. However, the romance, the fancy word plays, the beautiful rhyme and rhythm of the more traditional forms of the Bible is missing. Like one of the most famous verses in the Bible, In Psalms, "The Lord is My Shepherd, I Shall Not Want...." is translated into The Message version, as..."God, my Shepherd! I don't need a thing!" As you can see...the second version is lacking. The thing I love about The Message is the thing I dislike most about it. It took me alonggggg time to get through Psalms for that reason, it didn't move me, it didn't bring back all the times people have quoted, sang, preached, the Psalms, because it wasn't there. The verses were stripped. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't nastaglic.

I understand this, and I respect it. The Message has a specific purpose, to let us read the Bible in a way that people can easily understand the concepts and the stories. It does take away the magic, which is why it took me so long to get through Psalms, because Psalms are all prayers and songs. Prayers and songs stripped of their romance and magic are not prayers and songs at all. So, my awesome Bible reading machine stalled. Pretty bad actually. I FINALLY got through Psalms a few weeks ago and have started Proverbs, which is better. But, since the night I started reading Proverbs and got about half way through it, was the last time I have read it.

I don't have any excuse, my life isn't busy, things with my mom are much better, I've just lost my enthusiasm and motivation. Dang that Old Testament is long!!!! 

However, I will get through it. I'm just looking and waiting for a kick in the butt from the enthusiasm monster.

P.S. About my title....NOTHING to do with my current blog, I was going to blog about Battlestar Galactica (if you haven't seen it, it won't make sense.) Don't laugh at the Battlestar Galactica future blog. This show is/was amazing and has so many ideas and messages about God and humanity and what we are doing to ourselves that it is DEFINITELY worthy of the next blog. Sooooo, stay tuned!

1 comment:

  1. I'm way impressed that you made it to Psalms before you slowed down the pace! I always drag around the time I get to Leviticus - yeah... not too far in! :) I agree with you on The Message. Has some benefits and drawbacks. Some of the Psalms I've read in The Message just seem kinda hokey. Lately, when I'm trying to read through the Bible, I've enjoyed reading from "The Books of the Bible". ( http://thebooksofthebible.info/about.php ) It's a relatively easy version to read through, and it's not split up into columns and doesn't have tiny verse numbers all over the place. For some reason that really helps it come alive to me and all flow together. I catch myself reading further to get to what happens next - like a good book. Anywho, you've inspired me to pick it back up and start where I left off. Keep on keeping on!

    PS - Sometime I need to watch Battlestar Galactica. I've heard good things from numerous people. Sounds like it's worth a watch!

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