Two items on Bible reading

1. Lately when I've taken up Homer to finish yet another reading of the Iliad and Odyssey I have had Penelope speaking to me to read the Bible. (This is not a remark on Homer by Penelope; Penelope is just saying you have that language, now read what is real and living and true.) And I have to add this for certain types of Christians: no, Penelope isn't *actually* speaking to me. Penelope, though, in the visual language of the Homeric epics, represents something in ourselves that is of a higher elevation and nature than what we normally deal with and use...

2. Remember that prayer for understanding is something we can do before reading the Bible, and I have found it often noticeably effective (not that we need to or even can see the effect in real time). In fact, it seems to me that though it often seems strange to pray to the Person of the Holy Spirit, and it is rare for Christians to do it, to pray to the Holy Spirit for understanding of the Word of God seems very natural and right.