My generation embraced a childhood without television and the internet. Our recreation time was usually divided between reading and the great outdoors, thanks to which we have explored almost limitless worlds both virtual and real.
Storybooks were fun reading and therefore preferred to the mandatory textbooks (except for the Eng. Lit. texts which included short stories, poems, excerpts from novels and were readily devoured to the full even before term commenced!) Other compulsory reading included religious texts and the Bible. Fortunately for me, I had a wise and knowledgeable old nun who taught Sunday School. Instead of telling us to be good and devout and read the Bible every day (sigh!), she sought to introduce the Holy Book in a very different way. She asked us if wanted to read about love and romance (Yes, of course!). Adventure and expeditions (Goes without saying!!). Politics and intrigue? (That too!). Sinful living, idolatry, adultery, the works? (Wow, this was getting interesting – at the risk of our immortal souls and our reputations, we quavered ‘Yessss?’). Well, there was one book that had it all – the Bible. We groaned. There just had to be a catch. But our curiosity was aroused and we poked our noses between the covers to discover the wonder and the reach of the greatest book ever compiled. And yes, we were hooked.
Years passed. The Bibles gathered dust. And I listened, instead, to the short excerpts read out at Mass, sometimes on weekdays but mostly on Sundays. Nothing enticed me to explore further. But then, I was roped in to do the reading which was followed by the Psalm of the day. And I discovered anew my joy in the good book.
The psalms are for me, the most evocative prayers ever written; their reach is tremendous. You will find joy and lamentation, praise and supplication, recognition of God’s bounty and even rebuke for his deafness, commendation for faith and chiding for doubt, a simple conversation or a paean of praise, assurance of mercy and consolation for sorrow, courage to face the unknown and grace for the day, perhaps even the morrow. Yes, the psalms have it all.
The most famous and favourite is the twenty-third: The Lord is My Shepherd. But there is a whole book full; each one a gem, each one appropriate to the need, the moment. And each one is fresh with every encounter.
Today, as thunder rents the vaulted skies and the rain makes fresh the earth, I turn to Psalm 19: The heavens declare the glory of God; the firmament proclaims the work of his hands. And if the rain should prove more than I can handle, there is Psalm 69: Save me, O God, for the waters have risen up to my neck. I have come into deep waters, swept and engulfed by the flood!
I wonder if the Psalmists expected their words to reverberate down the ages till the end of time. For myself, I am simply glad that they did – that they do.
the part about childhood reading struck a chord with me. so very similar!
ReplyDeletenext step: find my (long-lost) bible :)