When I was a young teen, I had a conversation with my grandfather. I had been looking through this Bible that he studied out of. It was just a simple King James, no real footnotes or study guides. It was probably not the first time I had looked at a bible either. I went to youth group and all that. For some reason though, the Bible had caught my eye. He asked me if I had one, and I told him no. I’m not sure if that was the truth or not. I know we had Bibles in the house, but I don’t remember if I had one of my own. My grandfather seeing that desire of mine to read the Bible remedied the situation though. He handed me his own Bible. My mother still has it somewhere at her house in Virginia. He has long since passed and I miss him. The gift he gave me though? It is still with me daily.
I’ve been doing this challenge where each day I post a book that has been influential in my life. The challenge says not to explain it or talk about it, just a picture of the book. The thing is, I can’t just post this and not talk about it. You see, I truly believe the Bible is what sparked my true love for literature and writing in general. While some relegate it to just bronze age myth, I truly believe it to be the Word of God. Not just because it talks about Jesus and the history of the faith, but because of the intricacy and beauty of it’s writing. The vast diversity of its genres. The interwoven play on words, hidden meanings, and use of the story to build on itself.
I mean sure there are some boring stretches of historical data in there, particularly some of those lengthy census tallies in the book of Numbers. The gorgeous parts though lie nestled in between. The poetry of the lover crying out to his beloved. The lust and betrayal of a friend who used his position of authority to murder a man to take his wife. The fear of a man fleeing the imminent destruction of the city with his family in tow, only to lose his wife and be abused and misused in a drunken stupor while mourning. The war for independence fought against the juggernaut of the military might of the ages, only to be trampled just before the coming of salvation. All the while seeing how the authors use the same images to bring an entire library of books and scrolls together as one unified whole. Masterful. Beautiful. Awe-inspiring.
The thing I think most astounding about this book is that it speaks to you wherever you are, whoever you are, whenever you are. It’s not a history book, though it contains history. It’s not a book filled with myths, though some of the writings can fall into myth in the true sense of the word. (Ask me about that sometime.) It isn’t a just a poem, though it has that too. It’s rather a love story. A story of a creator who loved us so much he made us, even though we’d bring him heartbreak. A creator who calls us to us every moment of our lives, with every heartbeat, with every sigh of the wind. So that’s my book. The one that I put on the seventh day, 7 being the number of perfection and completeness.
I’ve seen many people who saved love letters from people when they were dating, be it from high school, college, or what have you. They keep them in a nice box and pull them out from time to time to remind themselves of love. I truly believe that longing is written in our heart. If you haven’t in a long time, or maybe you haven’t ever, pull the Bible down off the shelf and just look at it from a new perspective. It’s the ultimate love letter. It’s God calling to you from across time to say: I know you, more intimately than any other person. I know your good and your bad, your moments in the light when every else sees you and those in the dark when no one else does; and I still love you. I love you so much I became a human like you, and died for you, so that you could come and be like me, with me, in Heaven.