The following was first posted October 10, 2010:
At my first holy communion in the second grade, the custom was to receive a Bible. It was my uncle who provided me with one and I remember being somewhat disappointed for it was pocket size and very unreadable. I cannot remember why it was that I desired a regular Bible but the desire was real. In grades three through six we would attend Mass every morning and I did have a missal that was a prized possession. I liked its smell and the thin pages and was particularly impressed by the Latin that was recited from the altar and repeated by us in the pews.
In high school. we were given two paperback textbooks, one the Old Testament and the other the New Testament and we studied them for their literary content. I still had no concept of the Bible and no personal Bible of my own. Scan ahead to about 23 years of age where I had come out of the army and started at Pitt. My habit was to stop in the National Record Mart on Forbes Avenue in Oakland and browse their books before catching the bus home. I often came out with a purchase and one day it was a modern language paraphrase of the New Testament. I have this paperback in my hand now and can remember the feeling I had then of holding something special but not really knowing what that was.At my first holy communion in the second grade, the custom was to receive a Bible. It was my uncle who provided me with one and I remember being somewhat disappointed for it was pocket size and very unreadable. I cannot remember why it was that I desired a regular Bible but the desire was real. In grades three through six we would attend Mass every morning and I did have a missal that was a prized possession. I liked its smell and the thin pages and was particularly impressed by the Latin that was recited from the altar and repeated by us in the pews.
My first Bible was a Christmas present from my wife in 1982. I also have that Bible in front of me now. I told the story before of how she and I, as a new Christian, were on a Caribbean cruise and were forced back to our staterooms during a storm. With nothing to do, for the ship was rocking back and forth (they were much smaller in those days), I opened the drawer in the table next to the bed and there was the ubiquitous motel room Bible. Opening it up, as items were sliding off of the table from the waves, and reading from the place I had placed my finger, I read from the 93rd Psalm,
The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
The floods have lifted up their voice;
The floods lift up their waves.
The Lord on high is mightier
Than the noise of many waters,
Than the mighty waves of the sea.
As a new Christian, God was gracious to give me this glimpse of His Word through an unorthodox method, one that I would not presume upon now for I no longer pick up his Word without knowing that it is not a mere book but God breathed words to his people. If you are not familiar with this, please consider that when you pick up a Bible to read, that you hold in your hands words inspired by God. Without the movement of God's Spirit on us, they will remain just words but under the power of His Spirit their meaning not only begins to become clear but they reverberate every atom of our being and every neuron involved in our thinking.
Consider these words from Hebrews 4:12 For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. If one wishes to remain in rebellion to God one would do well to not pick up His Word for, should God will it, it will make very clear the folly and repercussions of holding on to our own autonomy, and it will convict the conscience.
On the other hand, if one desires to see just what is in this perceived time capsule, as I had for so many of my early years, it will be an illumination that is easy on the eyes, sweet to the pallet, exhilarating to the touch, soothing to the ears and of a pure aroma of cleanliness. It is powerful and will remain powerful even into old age. It is provision for all that we will need on this journey. It is nourishment. It is radiation to kill cancer cells and minerals to build bones. It is exercise, laughter and fulfillment. It is knowledge and understanding, intellect and emotion, humility and motivation. It is oxygen itself to the Christian life but it is kryptonite to Nietzsche's uberman. It will not only cause you to love but define love itself. Its unity will bring division. Discerning its division will bring unity to the mind. So, the next time that you pick up a Bible, please know that if you are not careful, an ax may be laid at the root of your paradigm of life
