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Saturday 20 November 2010

Hibernating

Beloved reader, I am working very hard to focus what will be a new book in some form. I will be blogging lightly  but hopefully a little. What I have noticed after 2 weeks concentrating on Psalm 1 is that style and focus are sometimes lacking in my online writing. This is because blogging is necessarily part of a time-conditioned ongoing conversation, not a determined scope of a writing of a more 'permanent' type.  Books are so difficult. Every comma, every nuance, every word, every omission, commission, and acknowledgement is measured. But books have the advantage of allowing a record of a particular purpose.

Dare I say that I want to communicate the joy of the psalms in a more disciplined form? Yes, that is it, more or less. Each of the 150 sections will include the following

  • A translation - sparse, readable
  • A construction - how is the psalm constructed
  • Themes in the psalm
  • Notes including such issues as gender, word play, variations in translations
  • and a personal application

I think it is this last that will distinguish my book from the academic, though I will do my best not to be academically foolish. There will be some but limited Hebrew. My target audience is the church-going public. To turn them on to the beauty in which I have begun to be known. Some of my conclusions even I find surprising. The wholeness of the Shema is not compromised by the New Testament, but such wholeness is not followed by many of the readers of the New Testament. I hope I can point in the direction of a deeper reading.

I am willing to share with anyone who so desires and with a few whom I will ask. If you are interested - especially if you would like to criticize or proof read, you can let me know via a comment on this post or send me an email at bobmacdonald at gx dot ca. You don't have to hurry. This is a long project - circa 3 years.

I hope I do good work while hibernating. My existing blogs will remain live and occasionally I will correct the odd post or post a new thought.

1 comment:

  1. TheraP22 November 2010 at 18:26

    It's interesting, Bob. So many bloggers seem to be turning to writing books. Or so many are taking time off for deeper reflection on the issues they feel called to ponder. (put me in this latter category)

    Blessings upon your continued study of the psalms. I have a feeling that how different people approach the bible provides unique vantage points and when those approaches are appreciated in their variety, much can be gained. I myself might follow different themes or goals in such a task. But that's the beauty of it.

    Psalm 1 is a wonderful psalm, isn't it? So many allusions to other parts of the bible. So much wisdom. It's one of my favorite psalms.

    P.S. I'm still fascinated with that path of considering the Holy Mystery in the "word" (and its many biblical appearances) in that one post you put up a few weeks back.

    Thanks for your reference to "Beloved Reader" - I doubt I know enough to ever critique your work on the psalms, and I can't necessarily commit to proof-reading, but if you ever want to contact me, just leave a comment at my blogger blog - with a note that it's not for publication, just to get in touch. (That will arrive as an email to me - for moderation - and I'll reply via email.)

    Peace be with you. It's a wonderful thing to have a task where you can just follow your own intuition and inner guidance along with the outer material you feel drawn to.

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