Doom to you who legislate evil,
who make laws that make victims— Laws that make misery for the poor,
that rob my destitute people of dignity,
Exploiting defenseless widows,
taking advantage of homeless children.
What will you have to say on Judgment Day,
when Doomsday arrives out of the blue?
Who will you get to help you?
What good will your money do you?
Isaiah 10:1-3, The Message
And now for our first reader poll: what book of the Bible shall we read this summer?
For the last several years it has been a self-appointed task for me to read a book of the Bible each summer, start to finish. This is much different from the Catholic practice at Mass in which there are Bible readings, short passages chosen to make the point that Jesus is the fulfillment of the ancient prophesies. But I think it's much more interesting and edifying to read entire books in a couple of sittings. In past summers I've read the Gospel of Mark, Acts of the Apostles, Second Samuel, Esther, and Ruth. (Ruth's very short.)
I admit, I bog down in the wisdom books. One year I tried to tackle Isaiah (Bet you never thought you'd hear that expression.), but just couldn't get through it. The same thing applies to Revelations.
I'm thinking of starting at the beginning with Genesis, but am not certain. So, good readers, here's the question: would anyone like to read a book with me and engage in a commentary about it? I await your decision.
By the way, I'm making good progress painting the house trim, but just noticed that we picked a Miami Dolphin color for it. I'll be lucky if I'm not run out of Colorado! At least we didn't select black and silver.
Isaiah is a very rich and profound book, but just too long and involved to read in a couple of sittings. I DO agree that it is important to read the Bible in context and that we this is typically lost in the snippets you get in liturgical church readings. I recommend First Corinthians and/or Proverbs.
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