Being a member of the Mary Harris Bible Study Group for several years has been an enlightening and stimulating experience for me. My mind is not always in gear at the opening of our 8:00 a.m. Tuesday weekly meeting. However, by the end of the hour, after the reading of scripture, lively discussion, some questions answered and some unanswered, then my mind is awake and processing old and new ideas.

The group is very informal with people of different ages and, since the members read from different versions of the Bible with different footnotes, there is ample opportunity for comparisons and probing questions. Often we do not agree with the biblical scholars quoted and occasionally decide to set aside controversial questions saying, “"Let's put these on hold until the scholars make up their minds."” A few years ago one of our members brought her copy of the Torah to class to see if the rabbis' opinions would help us clarify a difficult question. Occasionally we have interesting inter-generational reactions in conversations as we share experiences from our varying backgrounds. Among ourselves there is an openness, warmth, and tolerance of each others' concepts no matter where each member is on life's spiritual journey.

When the class was first organized by Mary Harris, Lib Taylor, Marjorie Nicholson, and a few others, they chose to start with two or three books from the New Testament.  Later it was decided, somewhat reluctantly, that we needed to go back and study the Old Testament; Vivian and John Dixon helped persuade us that we really needed that background even though we were more familiar and comfortable with the New Testament readings. Over a long period of time we struggled through the Old Testament and have now resumed the study of the New Testament. We are now slowly reading the Gospel of John.

On a personal level, I have found my years of study with this group of shifting members enriching and rewarding. When I read my Bible and when I listen to the lectionary readings on Sundays, I feel a familiarity and an understanding of the context of the Scriptures that I could never have had without the years of experience with the Tuesday morning Bible study. I am deeply grateful.

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