A few people who have taken up my challenge to read Exodus have been sharing with me how they are finding it - and being really honest, which is exactly what I would hope.  I sense that at least some of then are reading it differently from me, choosing to take larger chunks at a time, which inevitably means a very different experience.  Neither approach is 'better', neither is 'correct', each is valid and brings its own challenges and rewards.  What I notice on a slow, close reading, making notes as I go, is inevitably different from someone else reading larger chunks in a more fluid manner.  This is why it is good to be able to discuss with others what they have noted, why community Bible reading without agenda is something I am keen to encourage longer term within the Gathering Place.  For now though, it's good to hear a few voices sharing their thoughts on what they've read and how they have responded.

Exodus is a book full of violence and cruelty; it is a book in which genocide is justified in the name of God, let alone of religion... and, as one person who is sharing this exercise observed, "it could put you off religion for life."  It could indeed.  This person went on to share with me how they managed to make sense of the inclusion of such material in the canon... that this is a reflection looking back and seeking to make meaning of events by a later generation... that some of it is not literally true or at least cannot be proven...  Such responses are far from novel nor are they heretical: they are well established within Biblical scholarship, even if not not often mentioned in preaching.  The person went on to make links between the understanding of the ancient Hebrews and some of the violence and cruelty justifed on religious grounds in our own time... neither excuses the other, neither accords with the idea of a gospel of peace, but the similarities were evident.  If you weren't a person of faith, any faith, what would you make of it?  It really could put you off religion for life.

These are good questions, good things to ponder and struggle with... hopefully whether we stroll or hurtle through Exodus we will find things worth pondering.  And hopefully, if my hunch is correct, there will be times when parts of the text become a 'mirror' in which we glimpse something of ourselves.