Just the other day Stan pointed out, quite rightly, that reading the Bible can easily take second place to reading other things, like blogs and news feeds.
One solution that may be a good one is to subscribe to the news feed of the Bible Gateway’s Daily Reading plans – that way, while you’re reading all the other stuff each morning, you’ve got a chapter or three of the Bible to read as well. There’s a few different plans to choose from (although for my money it looks like the Old/New Testament plan is the best option).
I tried this for a sum total of two days before my frustrations with it got the better of me.
First, my news reader isn’t a great place to read the Bible. The font isn’t quite right, and all my instincts born of skimming scores of news posts each morning militates against attentive reading. Second, the feed (I assume) is made with the US in mind, so it arrives here at 3pm. That means it’s not fresh each morning. Third, I have good bible software on my machine already.
These aren’t huge problems. But it’s not quite right, and I’m a stickler for getting things working nicely (just in case you hadn’t noticed).
So, I came up with another solution. I’ve got an alarm that goes off in iCal at 6am each morning (that is, before I open my machine, so it actually triggers as soon as I log in). This alarm runs a little app I wrote which works out the passage(s) for the day, and brings them up in Accordance, laid out with the Hebrew and Greek beside the English for good measure, so I can see what’s going on more deeply if I want to. So far, it’s working well.
If you’d like to grab this script and set it up for your machine, keep reading for details.
There are four parts to setting this up, all of them relatively easy.
1. Script file and other associated bits
Download the script .zip archive, and we’ll start getting this sorted.
The folder that you’ve just extracted can go anywhere you like. On my system I’ve got a folder for ‘Bible Stuff’, and it sits there. In the examples below I’ll assume it’s on your Desktop.
There are 3 important files in this folder:
- DailyReading – this is the application that does the work – it’s actually an AppleScript saved as an application.
- DailyReadingPassages.txt – the ‘database’ of days of the year and the corresponding readings for that day.
- DailyReadingWorkspace – a workspace from Accordance, set up for reading just how you like it (see step 2).
2. Accordance
Obviously you’re going to need Accordance. I have version 8, and most things should work fine in earlier versions, although I haven’t tested it. I’m sure it would be possible to modify this to work with other Bible apps (such as MacSword), and you’re free to do so, but I don’t use them and so haven’t worked out how.
What you need to do is to set up a workspace that you’re comfortable with for your daily reading. If you’re using the same plan as me, that’s about 4 chapters a day, give or take.
This is what my setup is like (included in the .zip file):
I’ve got the Hebrew Old Testament (BHS-W4) text, the Holman Christian Standard Bible, and the Greek New Testament (GNT-T) in parallel columns. This works for me, your mileage may vary.
Save this workspace. It’s easiest if you save this with the other files (see step 1), but that’s not mandatory. The script file assumes it will be called DailyReadingWorkspace in the same directory, but you can change that in the next step.
3. Edit the Script File
Open the script file in Script Editor (you’ll find it in Applications–>AppleScript).
There are two changes you need to make here to ensure things work on your system.
- Change the path to the DailyReadingPassages.txt file. Locate the line that looks like this:
set textFileRef to "~/Desktop/DailyReading/DailyReadingPassages.txt"
and change the path in quotes to what corresponds to where you put the folder in step 1.
(Note that the ~ sign means your home directory).
- Make a corresponding change to the DailyReadingWorkspace path on the line that looks like this:
set accFileRef to "~/Desktop/DailyReading/DailyReadingWorkspace"
Save the script file, and exit Script Editor.
4. Set up a recurring event in iCal
Final step. Hope you’re still with me.
In iCal, set up a recurring event at a time of your choosing. I’ll choose 6am.
The trick with this bit is to set the alarm to “Open file”, and choose the DailyReading application.
All done. Now at 6am each morning a dialog box will pop up, reminding you of the reading for the day:
Clicking “Read” will continue the script, and open up Accordance for you. “Cancel”, surprisingly enough, will cancel.
Any problems, ask away in the comments. It’s fine for my system, but there may be quirks for yours.
Enjoy.
Freney,
Real nerdy, but awesome.
Just a thought – any compensation for a leap year?
S
Nope.
It just counts the days since Jan 1. Today is day # 184, for example – so it would probably give you an error on Dec 31st, but by then you’d have read it all anyway.
you are such a nerd.
and I did exactly the same thing. Read Stan’s blog – went – “cool idea”. Then got annoyed by the little things.
Will give the script a go.
Of course – you should set it up so:
– people can choose a start date (rather then start halfway through a book)
– spread the readings over 1-4 years (I think current it’s read the bible in a year, which is great, but to lots of people a big call)
– Not display Hebrew/Greek (for those who don’t care)
– Automatic install
– Print out a neat tick box solution for the week (to put on the back of the church outline)
You’re on holidays – nothing else to do right?
Mike
Mike:
1. I thought about this, and then went back to something easier.
2. Send me the outline, and I’ll give it a go.
3. Part two of the installation means you don’t have Hebrew/Greek if you don’t care.
4. Auto install is always a little dicey – I don’t want to run some other guy’s hacked together applescript that goes and changes my calendar and installs stuff in non-standard places, so why would anyone else? Or if they would, why would I encourage that?
5. What does this even mean?
Heh.
Oops – just found a typo (Exodux, not Exodus).
If you downloaded a copy in the first minute or three after this was posted, grab the archive again.
Otherwise, I guess you’ll find out sometime early next year.
You went for something easier?
Soft!
I’m comfortable with who I am.
comfortable?
soft!
Hey Freney,
I keep getting Applescript timeout – what do I do? (I usually sleep in…)
S