I went online and ordered this one.
It's an NRSV in gray, genu-wine imitation leather. I bought it from one of Amazon's used book dealers (it's new) and I waited a long, long time for it. I wondered if it was okay that I was checking the mail each day and saying where's my *$%ing Bible?So today it arrived. I didn't expect it to be so pretty and to feel so soft and nice in my hands. It says "Holy Bible" and has a curlicue cross with little curlicue ornaments down the side. The verse on the front is "Be still and know that I am God." (I only need reminding of that several times a day.) There's a shiny blue ribbon marker. It has the handy titles above the stories like "The Transfiguration" so that people who haven't memorized chapter and verse can find things. And there are some silly things. It's clearly a gift Bible, probably for confirmands - that's about 9th grade, right? - and so there are all kinds of workbook pages in the front and back for the young person to fill in. "Favorite and Special Memories" of church events, holidays and vacations, etc. "People who have touched my life" with "Name" and "Why this person is special" to fill in. Then there's the "About Me" page with blanks for favorite movie, TV show, etc. "Milestones on the Spiritual Journey" that asks about when you were baptized and how you came to know Jesus. There are also lovely things like the prayer of St. Francis, St. Patrick, Thomas A Kempis, Merton, and more. There are Bible verses to read when you're afraid or lonely. There are instructions for Lectio Divina and centering prayer.
While I really didn't want all this extra stuff and I am totally making fun of the workbook pages, I secretly want to fill in the blanks about my family and my special friends and how I feel about God and my favorite TV show. Because that would make it My Bible, wouldn't it?
How about you? Do you have a My Bible? What's it like? Did you used to have one? Do you wish you did now?
2 comments:
"I wondered if it was okay that I was checking the mail each day and saying where's my *$%ing Bible?" - you are hilarious! I laughed out loud for a long time over that one.
My bible is not nearly as lovely as yours sounds. However I do like to keep things in it that "speak" me - little papers with things written on them, special bookmarks, stuff like that. My late grandmother used to do that and it makes me feel close to her when I do it.
You should definitely fill in the workbook pages!
I have several Bibles- my own given me by my best friend's mother at my Lutheran Confirmation, my mother's from her Confirmation, my grandmother (you guessed it), and extra special, my great-grandfather's Bible, written in High German and gifted to him for his Confirmation in Latvia.
I don't spend much time with my Bibles anymore, but when I do I love to see the notes that were written (nice insight to my mother there), and scraps that were saved (invaluable genealogy finds). I say fill out your pages, you will not regret it and who knows how many people in the future will wonder at your writing.
I like old Bibles, especially when they have been written in. I'm the crazy lady who would happily buy old Bibles, enjoy the personalization and then spend inordinate hours trying to reunite them with the family they belonged to.
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