Bible Marathon

A marathon, not a telethon, and you don’t read while you run for 26 miles (though that’s an intriguing possibility)! No, the only running involved was when I ran across an online 90-day Bible reading plan (courtesy of a site called YouVersion). It sounded like an intriguing possibility, and a good way to both bolster my spirits in general, and keep me occupied while Sophia’s in Rome for this semester, so I decided to take the plunge.

I’m only a day behind so far (since I was pretty occupied last Tuesday with getting her on her flight at O’Hare, as well as a deluge of packing, last minute purchases, and the 6 hours in the car there and back0, so I’m doing pretty good. I read more some days, and less others, but the computer keeps track of the chapters and what day they’re “due.” I generally read from a print version, and then check them off on the on-line version, but if I’m away form home, I can always read on the road via the computer. Since my Bible and my laptop weigh about the same, there’s no savings there, but I do have more options with a laptop!

This isn’t the first time I’ve read the Bible all the way through, by any means. (I’ve read my New American Bible a few times.) About ten years ago I started reading Protestant versions, to keep up with the times, so what I like to do is read different translations. I really enjoyed reading the King James Version, because there are so many phrases that you recognize as lines from movies or books! It’s a little like going to the opera and thinking, Hey, didn’t I hear this music from Bugs Bunny cartoons when I was a kid? The whole experience is that much more enjoyable. This time I’m reading the Amplified Version. It’s intriguing, since there’s so much expansion. It doesn’t make for good reading aloud, I think, but it’s okay for silent reading. I know there are people that use it all the time, but I think most people feel comfortable with the Bible that they’ve used the longest.

So this is my reading for now. Mostly. Naturally, I’m also reading a number of other books, but they’ve sort of taken a back seat since I’m on this reading plan.

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