entries do not show recommendations box if no recommendations. Added bible in a year entry, first edited by GPT-4; study only has one header

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 <h1>blessfrey.me - new look, new me </h1>
 #webdev <br>
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src/diary/entries/230519

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+<h1>how to read the Bible - ditching the Bible in a year reading plan </h1>
+#christian #bible <br>
+<br>
+<p>Now, I read a chapter a day, a digging deeper than I ever did at anyone else's pace. </p>
+
+<h2>reading plans were dragging me through the Bible instead of guiding me </h2>
+    <p>Every church, every Christian group I've been in, they say you should read through the Bible once a year. As someone who deeply enjoys arbitrary structure and prebuilt curriculums (<a href="https://wiki.blessfrey.me/view/Course">I take online classes for fun</a>), I eagerly embraced this idea. I have used several plans, probably most often the <a href="https://static.crossway.org/excerpt/1-esv-study-biblereading-plan.3.pdf">one in the back of my Bible</a>. As worthy as it was, this exercise often discouraged meditation. </p>
+    <p>If the "begats" cropped up before drama or poetry, the temptation to skim was strong. If anything was too rich or obscure, it was easier to proceed to a more direct, actionable text.  It's not that reading plans failed to reveal God's nature, His promises, or my shortcomings. But to some extend, checking off boxes became a primary goal. </p>
+    <p>I'm sure everyone else refreshes that clear vantage point over all of Scripture every year and becomes full of the Word as they do it, but I never made that my intention. Despite concessions I've made over the years, even with reading ahead during easier days, I consistently failed. I drown under confusing Old Testament narratives and a backlog of missed epistles. Consequently I would either start fresh with a new plan or take a break from Bible reading altogether. I never finished the Bible in a year. That behavior is so unhealthy when it's spelled out, but that's how it is when your eyes are on everyone else but God. </p>
+
+<h2>craving </h2>
+    <p>When my mom's health sharply declined, I grappled with the fear that my parents might not always be around. I cried to God that I may never be old and mature enough to get all the explanations I needed from them. But then, the answer became clear - it doesn't matter. With that realization, the burden of reliving bad childhood memories was lifted. Soon, sermons on not dwelling on the past, forgiveness (Matthew 6:15), and peace (Philippians 4:6-7) followed, and my relationship with God became so personal and timely. I craved Bible reading. I didn't want to follow the rules; I wanted the Bible to answer more questions. I yearned to hear what the Bible had to say. </p>
+
+<h2>a question-based reading plan</h2>
+    <p>This marked the beginning of a new approach to reading the Bible. I chose an important topic – hopelessness, and a book that addressed it – Jeremiah. Despite Jeremiah never resonating with me in the past (why do modern Christians need so many chapters against pouring drink offerings to the Baals?), this choice was instinctual, almost like a snap decision. Then I decided that even if this one book took an entire year by itself, that would be fine. I was there to learn from Jeremiah's ministry. And right away, Jeremiah became strikingly relevant, calling for priests (us, according to 1 Peter 2:9-10) to cultivate a more authentic and exclusive relationship with God and His Word, rather than the world and its idols. </p>
+    <p>In this new plan, I select a topic relevant to me and pair it with a book. Even though the Bible will likely address your chosen topic in unexpected ways and broaden your perspective, I think a simple question or topic makes a good starting point. It helps with building enthusiasm and finding personal connection with the text.  So far, the topics I've chosen have been closely tied to life events, convictions from Scripture and prayer, and recurring themes in my day-to-day life. Examples include wisdom, hopelessness, demons, and spiritual gifts. I think a good prayer to help brainstorm is to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any disbelief in you. <p>
+    <p>When it comes to selecting books, I don't have extensive knowledge of each book, so I either trust my intuition or make an obvious choice. Once I finish, I may also continue into other books from the same time period or topic. I read Jeremiah, Obadiah, the apocryphal Baruch, and Lamentations back-to-back, though Lamentations is so bleak, I had to pair it with Song of Songs. Your pair of topic and book doesn't need to make sense to others, so long as it fuels your desire to read.  </p>
+    <p>I then start at chapter 1 and proceed chapter-by-chapter until I complete the book and am ready for my next topic. </p>
+    <p>I quickly found a chapter a day works well for me. It provides ample time to read slowly, pray over verses, and consult related passages, maps, commentaries, and sermons as needed. </p>
+    <p>I don't enforce this pace, either. The chapter is done when I can summarize its content and its significance. I give each daily chapter a thorough study, and if I glean nothing from it, I try reading it again the next day as a wiser person. </p>
+    <p>If the chapter is particularly rich or my life is too distracting, I might divide it into multiple parts over multiple days. Jeremiah 32, for example, spanned the entirety of my last week with Mom in the hospital. Under any other plan, I surely would have been in speed-reading mode or avoiding reading out of shame, but approaching the Bible as a source of guidance rather than a duty heightened its importance during stressful times. </p>
+    <p>It might be an unconventional approach, but sometimes it takes an external experience or a change of attitude to unlock Scripture, and I've been enjoying associating certain chapters with moments in my life. </p>
+    <p>Lastly, I no longer stockpile Scripture readings in advance. I may only read one chapter out of the current book per day, no matter its length. I don't want to dilute the impact of the book by consuming too much of it at once. A single chapter is sufficient to reflect upon and apply per day. If I need more Scripture, I visit other books, often Proverbs or one of the tiny, less familiar books. </p>
+
+<h2>there is no flyover country in the Bible</h2>
+    <p>Slowing down compelled me to appreciate what is present in the Scripture. If all Scripture is breathed out by God for men of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17), then it's all valuable study material. This means there is no 'flyover country' in the Bible; no part of it should be skimmed over just to get to the 'good stuff'. The 'begats', the meticulous descriptions of each minor character's tribe, the geographical details, the recapitulation of reigns, all of it is worth studying, when seen in the context of Scripture as a whole. Before, I barely knew my -ites from my -ines, but these tribes have proven to be rich, meaningful characters themselves, worthy of study! </p>
+    <p>The Bible is alive, all of it matters, and it unfolds in a timing beyond our control. It may not be as fancy as completing the Bible in a year, but there's a humbling beauty in moving through the text so slowly. Let's read quickly for the breadth of Scripture but also not neglect slow, deep reading. </p>
+    <p>As thanks for reading my blog, may God give you the answers you seek.^^</p>
+<br>
+Last updated May 19, 2023. <br>
+<br>

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-<!---->
-<h1>ditching the Bible in a year reading plan </h1>
-#christian #bible <br>
-<br>
-<p>I'm reading a chapter a day and digging deeper than I ever did on anyone else's pace. </p>
-
-<h2>experiencing the Bible in passing </h2>
-    <p>Every church, every Christian friend group I've been in, they say you should read the entire Bible once every year. Tons of daily reading plan PDFs are floating around out there. As someone who deeply enjoys living under external, arbitrary structure and going through prebuilt curriculums, I took to this eagerly. I have used several, probably most often the <a href="https://static.crossway.org/excerpt/1-esv-study-biblereading-plan.3.pdf">one in the back of the ESV study Bible by Crossway</a>. </p>
-    <p>This structure taught me a lot, gave me a lot of things to improve on, and was encouraging and beautiful for sure. But I never really dwelt on any particular verse or passage because of the pressure to complete the full circuit. Each chunk was a lot to read, and if I spent too long on any particular passage, the pace would get out of hand fast if any section was delayed to tomorrow. </p>
-    <p>If a patch of "begots" cropped up in the same section as more dramatic or poetic literature, the temptation to skim was strong. If anything was too difficult or too rich to understand in one pass, I wanted to move on to an easier text. After all, I had prayer and journaling to manage into my schedule as well. To some extent, I was more concerned about finishing than reading. </p>
-    <p>Despite all the concessions I've made over the years, I never completed a yearly plan within a year, not even once. I drowned under compounding missed Epistles and confusing Old Testament narratives, and I'd either start fresh with a new plan or take a break from Bible reading altogether. Even if I read the Bible every single day, the recurring topic of "Bible in a year" showered me with guilt because I could not read like them. If I ever did succeed, I'd imagine it would be akin to driving through a museum and thinking, "that was cool," in passing. </p>
-
-<h2>my pace </h2>
-    <p>I'm sure all those people around me receive the maximum blessing of the daily Bible reading plan, reading the full group of passages every single time with full comprehension. And I'm sure they become full of the Word as they do it. But I'm not sure I can. I am a slow reader, a lot of passages make no sense to me the first time, and something pops up in my life at some point during each year that makes it seriously hard to focus at all. </p>
-    <p>For a long time, I viewed this as a major shortcoming to force out of myself. Then, some time last year, as my mom's health sharply declined, I reassessed a lot of things in my life. As part of that, I took a topic that meant something to me, a hopeless situation, and the book that I felt spoke to that, Jeremiah, and told myself that if this one book takes an entire year, that's okay. I wanted to learn from Jeremiah's ministry. </p>
-    <p>I quickly found the best goal for myself is a chapter a day. It retains that delicious arbitrary structure (because obviously the modern divisions of chapters and verses were a man's invention), and it gives me plenty of time to read slowly, pray over verses, and bring in commentaries and sermons as needed. I didn't enforce this pace, though. My goal was to understand the message, not complete the readings, so I gave the daily chapter its best study and if I got nothing out of it, I would try reading it again the next day as a wiser girl. If the chapter was so rich or my life was too distracting, I might have split it up into multiple parts over multiple days until I understood it. Jeremiah 32 took the entire week Mom was in the hospital. Under any other plan, I surely would have been in speedrunning mode or have been avoiding Scripture out of shame, but allowing myself to be slow and meditative allowed this Scripture to be one of the few things I remember from that time. </p>
-
-Doing this illuminated how every verse was included by the Spirit for a reason, even the "filler" and "introduction" verses. </p> 
-
-
-this is how I read the Bible, from the first time I really took any interest in the Word until last year. </p>
-
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-
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-<br>
-Last updated May 8, 2023. <br>
-<br>

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+but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:15)
+do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

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-        <h1>blessfrey wiki</h1>
         <h1><a href="https://wiki.blessfrey.me/view/Main_Page">Study wiki</a></h1>
         <p>My notes have citations from the Bible, sermons, academic texts, nonacademic sources, and my own thoughts. These are just study notes and personal summaries, so trust it as much as a mini-Wikipedia without peer review. </p>
         <a href="https://wiki.blessfrey.me/view/Main_Page">wiki.blessfrey.me</a>