Holey Bibles

In God's Politics: Why the American Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get it Jim Wallis refers to a very special edition of the Bible owned by one of his friends. It's a Bible without any references to the poor, or to God's heart for the oppressed, or to establish justice for the lowly and the lonely. Why? Because his friend painstakingly cut out all these 'offensive scriptures' to prove a point about the way we read our bibles selectively - instead of a Holy Bible we have a Holey Bible!
I know how often I can be guilty of reading the text through my own particular preconditioned lens. So recently I've been really trying to read the Bible less. Instead I've been trying to let the Bible read me. It can be very revealing! Whatever tradition, belief or background you come from you should give it a try. Let your imagination wander through the pages. Interact with the characters. Enter their dilemmas. Share their struggles. Respond to their words. See whether the Holy Spirit leads you along the scenic route or whether you end up amongst the poor, the lost and the broken. I have a hunch it will be the latter of the two.