{"id":85,"date":"2010-10-12T11:39:09","date_gmt":"2010-10-12T11:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/flunkingsainthood\/2010\/10\/jane-austen-wrote-the-book-of-ruth-and-other-truths-ive-learned-in-my-first-year-of-tweeting-the-bib.html"},"modified":"2010-10-12T11:39:09","modified_gmt":"2010-10-12T11:39:09","slug":"jane-austen-wrote-the-book-of-ruth-and-other-truths-ive-learned-in-my-first-year-of-tweeting-the-bib","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flunkingsainthood\/2010\/10\/jane-austen-wrote-the-book-of-ruth-and-other-truths-ive-learned-in-my-first-year-of-tweeting-the-bib.html","title":{"rendered":"Jane Austen Wrote the Book of Ruth, and Other Truths I’ve Learned in My First Year of Tweeting the Bible"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Twitter-Logo.png\"<\/form>\n

The Twible<\/a> turned one last week! In celebration of its birthday I wrote a reflective humor piece for the Faith & Leadership newsletter<\/a>, talking about what I’ve learned in a year of tweeting the Bible. A portion of the article and a link are below.<\/p>\n

On Tweeting the Bible by @janariess<\/a><\/p>\n

Jane Austen wrote the Book of Ruth; of course she did. But before I began tweeting the Bible every day, I simply missed the obvious signs. <\/p>\n

Consider the opening scene: a down-on-her-luck woman, Naomi, has lost her husband and sons and shifts unsteadily, moorless in a culture that defines women solely by their relationships to men. Enter her plucky and faithful daughter-in-law Ruth, equal parts Elizabeth Bennet and Elinor Dashwood, who seeks to right the destitute family’s future. Then make space on the stage for Colin Firth<\/strike> Boaz, the eligible bachelor who saves their entire family.<\/p>\n

Yes, I am being facetious, but that is the posture of my Twible project,<\/a> a cheeky use of Twitter<\/a> that I began almost exactly a year ago. This time last October, on a trip to Southern California (the birthplace of more than one unusual religious idea or project), I consulted the Bible in the hotel nightstand for a single piece of information. Flipping through its pages I was then struck, Old Testament lightning-style, by all of the many parts of the Bible I never turn to, indeed have never read. <\/p>\n

I could not at that time have told you what an ephod was, or why the Books of Chronicles omit kingly tabloid headlines that were so salacious when the same stories were told in 2 Samuel. And the Book of Habbakuk? No idea. <\/p>\n

So I decided to try an experiment: I would work my way through the
\nentire Bible, summarizing a chapter a day on Twitter in 140 characters
\nor less with humorous commentary. And I would do this in
\ncommunity. Like many Christians, I had tried before to read the Bible
\nfrom cover to cover, without success. Now, I have others holding
\nme accountable. If I’m ever tempted to give up, I think of Gwen and
\nSteve and Kitty, who look forward to my morning Twibles as part
\nof their day.<\/p>\n

To continue reading this article, go to the Faith & Leadership website<\/a>. Thanks!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Twible turned one last week! In celebration of its birthday I wrote a reflective humor piece for the Faith & Leadership newsletter, talking about what I’ve learned in a year of tweeting the Bible. A portion of the article and a link are below. 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