There are several bibles on my shelves, which is something I think is common to most individuals today. Perhaps it isn’t a bible on a shelf for you, but another religious text, an icon that has been passed down throughout your family, a rosary, a meditation pillow or rug, etc. Maybe it isn’t in your home, but a friend’s house or a family member’s ? Maybe it isn’t a thing, but an expression? My point is religion affects us, regardless of whether it is active or passive. We see a head covering and we make note of it because it is different, we may not make a judgment of whether it is positive or negative but we see it. Religion is interwoven in our lives, whatever our own spiritual leanings may be. This blog for me is a place to comment and reflect on those “notes” and to come to a better understanding of them.
Today, I noted my several bibles on my shelves. One is old, and black leather covered handed down through a family for generations. There is a little red covered New Testament that was given to my by the Gideon’s when I was still an elementary student. During my masters a red leather cover New Testament was given to me in Greek. I also have several different translations (NRSV, RSV, NLT, NKJV), etc. I rarely open these books now, at one point they were an important part of my university studies. Then, having several translations then was important to pick up translation errors, or different languages were helpful in learning a new Biblical language. However, that is no longer the reality for me and I am at a loss as exactly as to what I will do with them… Some I will undoubtedly keep for the memories, and others I will pass on (as they were passed on to me), but what about the others? In our society there has been a tendency, particularly from religious folk, to not discard sacred objects. I know a chaplain who is periodically given boxes of old bibles, which are in turn discarded into the garbage, because what does one do with old dilapidated religious objects that may no longer be of use? Sometimes we have ceremonies or rituals to replace candles, decommission a building, etc. , but even after removal many of the associations are still there. A pew is still a pew whether it is in a church or not after all, and that memory of your grandparents saying a blessing is there too. For me the bibles are still a sacred book on my shelf, and while I may not belief they are the infallible word of God. The stories and expressions, the rituals and seasons are an inherent part of my life and my bookshelf regardless how often I blow the dust off them.