The sobbing eventually subsided and the tears dried up. The
New Testament was still on the small fold-out shelf under the dirty window
where I placed it when I first entered the compartment. I picked it up
and started flipping through its pages unsure where I should start.
My freshmen year of Comparative Literature studies, I was
required to read some portions of the Bible, and even write papers about it,
but, as somebody once pointed out, I was reading other people’s mail.
I couldn't make sense of it at all. I was quick to dismiss the text
as implausible, irrelevant and full of contradictions – a disjointed
concoction of colossal nonsense that had absolutely no bearing on my
life. I was like a self-appointed editor-in-chief, wearing a critic’s hat,
question-marking, underlining and crossing out with bright red pen everything
in the Bible that didn't make sense to me. The chopping block was mine, and so was the hatchet. Having completed my school
assignments, I thought I had given appropriate attention to the ancient book and
was ready to move on to more pertinent subjects available on the current global idea
market, bustling with fresh energy and excitement.
You can’t read the Bible like that! My
Jesus-friends used to object when I shared my previous experience with God's
written word. If
every time you found something in the Bible you disagree with, consider far-fetched,
stupid or impossible to believe, you ripped that page out, by the end of the
year you would be left with the covers only, nothing in between.
Their passionate dedication to the integrity of the Word of
God in its entirety took me completely by surprise. I've never
seen anybody so wholeheartedly devoted to this old book and every word written
in it. Even if I didn't necessarily agree with them, I couldn't help
but respect such loyalty.
But now, instead of judging and editing out the content of
Word of God according to my likes and dislikes, I was ready, even eager to
listen. I couldn't wait to discover more of what was written
inside this book, for now I recognized it for what it was - God’s love letter
addressed personally to me! There was so much to learn,
so much to understand. Best of all, His Spirit was with me – in me! -
to breathe in fresh life into the ancient words. The words of incredible promises, the words of instruction, the words of correction...
As hope swelled up inside my heart, the sliding glass door to the compartment
opened, and a man stuck his head in,
May I please join you?
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