Bible Reading Challenge - Episode 9 - Genesis 29-32, John 17

The scriptures were originally not read by many. Most, for centuries, could not read. Rather, the scriptures were passed along orally. They were committed to memory by believers around the world. Churches were communities in which those who were literate would accumulate the scrolls of the scriptures and read them aloud to people who, believing it to be God’s word, would commit as much to memory as they possibly could. Their worship consisted in, not only the literate reading aloud lengthy portions of scriptures, but also singing from memory the Psalter.
This format of me reading to you is participating in a long history of oral transmission. This can be a lazy thing for you, in which you focus on other things while letting me drone on in the background. Or you can seek the mentality of the ancients, listening with rapt attention to these eternally-true words. It is up to you. But take heart that this method has been done for thousands of years, and as you receive these words, even through a digital medium, you are encountering profound and holy things!