two types of folks in this old world
those who like to keep their books
pristine
clean
and underline free
with pages crisp and new
and then there are the rest of us
who scribble
jot
underscore
and highlight
meaningful words
useful ideasneedful passages to commit to memory
we turn down pages
and leave our books
tented open
with cracked spines
when no bookmark is handy
those in the first group
(like my wonderful husband)
will probably squirm a little bit
whilst reading this post
if you happen to be
anything like him
i apologize in advance
because i am about to tell you
how very much
i like to write in books
i still have a few old college texts
gathering dust somewhere in our attics
and they are chock full of
hastily scribbled notes
with pleated page corners
for easier reference
my bibles too
have their fair share of graffiti
)was purchased mainly on it's merit of wide margins
to enable my habit
it's my fourth bible as an adult
and like the others on my shelf
has become
a sort of timeline
of my faith building years
my high school/college bible
is quite worn out
and the passages most heavily marked
seem to be those
that speak to the future
choosing a spouse
making plans
looking forward
my second bible
has duct tape on the spine
and crayon scribbles on the flyleaf
when small hands grabbed and tore
dropped and colored in
anything they could grasp
i don't have a system
rather
i underscore or highlight
with whatever implement available
when a verse or passage has caught my attention
sometimes
during a sermoni will jot down a note
giving further explanation
to the scripture at hand
a few years ago
a friend shared that her dad
who
incidentally
is the Director at this amazing bible camp
was planning to leave a certain kind of legacy
to each of his five children
a marked up
worn out
old bible
you see
like many of us
he has different bibles that he's used
at different stages of his life
they are highlighted
underlined
and noted
and those bibles
leave a trail of breadcrumbs
for this man's spiritual journey
a kind of road map
for those who will read them later
and he plans
to leave one of the those bibles
to each of his kids
when i heard this story
i realized that i was just starting to mark
my fourth bible
and now
each time i put my pento printed page
i think about those future hands
turning these well read
and well loved pages
journeying back with their mum
through the pages of her life
and i hope
that these bibles will be
a treasured legacy
for my children
in the years to come
and most of all
that future generations
will be able to read
the chicken scratch
that i call
handwriting
{alison}
p.s