How Goes the Launch?

My friends, herein lies the beauty of the blog . . . .my first time ever, maiden voyage into bloggery is being undertaken at midnight, in my flannel pjs, feet  on the desk, snacks at the ready.  All of a sudden, I'm thinking that this blog just might be a fantastic way to do some Bible study! If we can't make it (prefer not to make it?) to small groups or Sunday School classes or other "in person" opportunities, the Year of the Bible Blog will be available 24/7.  Please weigh in early and often.  The more conversation, questions, debate, and insight we get, the more enriching this experience will be.

First big question:  are you finding it difficult to maintain the daily discipline of reading the assigned chapters?  First big confession:  YES, I AM!  I think the better and more realistic practice for me is going to be setting aside a couple of hours each weekend and doing a week's worth of reading at a time.  I know this isn't ideal and that the concept of the program is to "give us our daily bread," but I think I'm going to have to take the python approach and eat big /digest at length.  Let us know what's working for you.

What has touched you in these first couple of weeks?  Have you gained a fresh perspective or insight on a passage that you have perhaps read many times before?  If so, why?  If not, has reading the "old familiars" of Genesis and Matthew been comfortable? refreshing? tedious?

One verse from the very first day of reading caught my attention and has been nagging at me ever since:  Genesis 1:4: "God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness."  There is something there for me that I can't quite put my finger on.  Yes, clearly, light is good.  99.9% of us would prefer to sit outside in beautiful afternoon sunshine than in the darkness of midnight.  And yes, it was obviously necessary to "separate" the light from the darkness so that we can maintain the natural rhythms of morning and evening. But what about the edge, the fringe, the twilight -- equally God-breathed but neither day nor night  . . . . and both at the same time?  And if "the light was good," does that necessarily mean that the darkness was not?  I began thinking about this a couple of years ago when I was trying to make a sermon out of John 1:4-5: " In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. "  We so often equate darkness with evil or ignorance or loss, and that is clearly how John intended the metaphor to be understood in these early words of his gospel.  But are there not times when we can (should?) embrace the darkness?

That's what is rolling around in my head after these first days of the program.  How about you and yours?

Grace to all ~

LB