Tag: Personal Reflection

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11/29 Reading (2 Chronicles 1-3; Romans 14)

Introduction to 2 Chronicles: This book begins with the Solomonā€™s reign and shifts to focus on the history of Judah during the divided monarchy and exile. I noticed that there is no mention of the Northern Kingdom in the introduction. This comes from the NRSV introduction: ā€œThe writer excludes the independent history of the Northern Kingdom because he regards both the kingship and the sanctuaries of this new state as an affront to God (13.4ā€“12)ā€ (p. 617). Kinda harsh.

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Thoughts up this point

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about this experience up to this point and thought I need to just write it down. I expect this to ramble some. And it may not make sense. Oh well.

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10/10 Reading (1 Samuel 10-12; 1 Corinthians 13)

1 Samuel 10: Saul is anointed king by Samuel. Samuel explains some of the signs he will see and tells Saul to wait 7 days for him. Samuel brings all of the tribes together and initially admonishes them again for selecting a human king over God. He then brings forward the Benjamin tribe, then the Matri family, and then selected Saul. Not everyone was happy with this decision, with some refusing to give him any gifts of appreciation.

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10/9 Reading (1 Samuel 7-9; 1 Corinthians 12)

1 Samuel 7: After 20 long years of the Ark remaining in Kiriath-jearim, Israel ā€œyearned for the Lordā€ (CEB Study Bible; 1 Sam 7.2). Samuel told the people to stop worshipping the foreign gods and they did. He told them to assemble in Mizpah so we could pray to God for them. Upon hearing of everyone gathering in one location, the Philistines decided to attack everyone there and defeat Israel once and for all. Iā€™m guessing 20 years made them forget what happened when they possessed the Ark, because this was a bad idea!! While Samuel prayed to God for help, he struck down the Philistines. The Israelite soldiers attacked and killed the Philistines. This led to the return of the various towns the Philistines had captures from Israel.

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What do I believe?

I was running earlier today with a good friend of mine and we were talking about the Bible study. We started talking about what people believe when it comes to the Bible. I mentioned how most in the Episcopal Church view the Bible (not as a literal document) and he said something along the lines of I didn’t have to just believe what the Episcopal Church says I should believe. That got me thinking and led to this post: What do I believe? I anticipate that my answers to this question will change throughout this experience, but I thought I’d take a crack at it now.

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9/30 Reading (Judges 10-12; Psalms 38-40)

Judges 10: Some more information about other judges who helped the Israelites. After two judges, Tola and Jair, led the people for 45 years total, the Israelites fell back into their routine of worshipping other gods. The initial difference this time is when they called out to God for help after many years of living under the rule of the Philistines and the Ammonites, God says he doesnā€™t want to help them because they keep doing the same thing over and over again. Eventually God relented and provided a ruler who could defeat the Ammonites.

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A quarter of the way in reflection

I wanted to take a moment to just reflect on the experience up to this point. We are in the 14th week of our year long study and I’ve experienced a range of emotions throughout this time. I thought it would be helpful for me to just write about how I’ve felt throughout this process. Kind of like a little reset and kick in the butt moment. Overall I’ve really enjoyed the experience and I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned that this is really challenging. I knew it would be tough, but I didn’t realize that it would be this tough. I’ve learned the Bible has a lot more in it than I expected. The Bible addresses some interesting topics. I’ve also learned some things about myself that I never anticipated.

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8/25 Reading (Numbers 15-17; Acts 16)

Iā€™m noticing some subtle changes in my attitude from time to time. There are times where I feel more at peace than before. Almost more spiritual than before. I also find that there are times where I donā€™t feel like reflecting or writing anything. Instead I just want to read. This has been one of those weeks.

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8/23 Reading (Numbers 9-11; Acts 14)

I noticed something the other day during the eclipse. It was also something else that I experienced during a funeral recently. Iā€™m starting to feel more spiritual. I canā€™t really explain it, but Iā€™ll try. I have always been good at distinguishing science and religion and thatā€™s not changing. The thing that is changing is that Iā€™m feel that Iā€™m able to appreciate things in a different way than I could before. Iā€™m having a hard time putting into words that make sense, so Iā€™ll have to come back to this throughout the process. Let me share a picture from the eclipse, that should help:

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8/19 Reading (Numbers 1-3; Psalms 22-24)

Reading this introduction made me think about how much Iā€™m writing during this process. Iā€™m noticing that during times when Iā€™m busy with other things I start to feel bad or guilty when I donā€™t write much. It becomes a burden, and it shouldnā€™t be that way. I will continue to write about what I read and sometimes it will be just a summary of what I read that day. But I think it will help me continue through this journey. Because this is tough stuff.

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