My Bible challenge

Yesterday I signed up for the Bible challenge. Starting Sunday, I have to read 12 pages a day and discuss those pages with other folks over at Wake Forest Presbyterian Church. The idea is that, while most people say they follow the Bible, few have actually read the whole thing. The article my co-worker wrote about the challenge points out a lot of people start, get stuck somewhere around Leviticus and give up.

I think I gave up in Genesis, likely making me the lamest of the lot.

Then again, I'm not Christian, so I have a better excuse.

But I've always wished I could have finished it, so I could better understand the 78.4 percent of other Americans who take so much stock in it. I've got my own Bible, which came from a motel room while I was still in college, where I distinctly recall watching hours upon hours of golf during what was probably the Masters tournament. As a photographer for the Canisius College Griffin newspaper, we'd attend the men's basketball NY state playoffs, if our team advanced that far. When the team won, it left a lot of down time until the next game. So, golf and the Bible, which, as I said, left me stuck in Genesis.

Of course, I also have a Koran and a copy of the Book of Mormon I hope to read someday. But, first things first.

My goal is to read 12 pages every day, excepting Tuesdays, (which brooks me no free time whatsoever, perhaps doubling up on Wednesdays or Sundays) and, as time progresses, write about my experience in this column. When the challenge is complete, and possibly before, I intend to take on another challenge, and another, etc., hopefully transferring this blog to a dolled up Web site at work, whenever that comes through. My idea is to have the challenges be somehow tied to the community, in our newspaper's coverage area, so I can blog about them or even write articles about them like real journalists do. Not sure what my future challenges will be; I'll have to consider the options as they come to mind (or are suggested to me, if I garner any readership here).

Wish me luck.