1st Indulgence

It is one of the tiniest books in the ancestral house of my maternal grandparents as it is also the very first book I came across with even before my mother fed me with those grade school textbooks. A bound yellowing pages yet every part intact belonged to my granny. In my memory was stored a seven-year-old having queries what it was. And that, why were the printing so fine, the text three times tinier than my reading book’s. And the leaves were so lightweight, so thin having granny’s shaking fingers a hard time to turn them. Oh well, I cannot remember how she answered me. 

I had from an aunt a present of nice booklets of stories inspired from the Bible. They had translations and illustrations that stirred a kid’s imagination. When I thought I did not understand the first story, the song our catechist who hummed to us “Si Noah’y Gumawa ng Arka” complemented with an animation affirmed I was going right with my reading. So I fell for the Bible stories and went on until the last pages. Every time I brought the books during weekend house plays, my playmates had the same glee over them. The books now slightly out of shape due to use of my three other siblings are still good hand-me-down stuffs for bookish younger cousins. 

More of the proximity being within the community, I attended this Catholic high school with some grade school mates. Devouring the Bible in search of answers for school assignments was done in obligation. One time, an open category for Bible quest was held in our campus. A group of peers of mine left the hall completely in awe after we were ditched by a well-versed co-participant. From then on, I dusted off the navy blue-covered book long gone before under my desk. It is a pocket-sized Bible of the New Testament distributed for free by the Gideon’s International. The texture of the creaseless pages to my touch made me count the wasted time I had not made use of with the book. Coming home from a twenty-four-hour prayer retreat required for the whole class, I searched my room for the book, and highlighted the verse the Irish priest shared to me back then. I even scribbled the whole line of Luke 2:52 at the back page of the Bible and dubbed it as the scripture of my life. 

In all chances, I get to make the Bible pose a role in my day-to-day pitting with life. Simply like when I spoke Corinthians 13:1-13 in my Effective Speech course in college. It is not for a reason being convicted in Catholicism as it had descended from the roots of my folks but, I believe, of personal faith I clung to. In as much as I tried to divulge the deepest meanings conveyed in the lines in the book, I do not intend perfecting couples of verses. These ages of vampires and werewolves or high-end gadgets, a Bible is one great find, too. Movie producers, scriptwriters and song composers did not escape the charm this book brought. The Samson-Delilah romance is not an inch from the Precious Hearts Romances series. The drama in the life of Jesus Christ can get kiddos and mommies a bonding for bedtime stories. For a binge of an action, turn on to Exodus and the Red Sea partition keeps you moved. 

But the book centered in this piece is yet to be mine. Now that I am earning my own keep, I desire the one clad in leather. Soon, I will fast completely on my beloved New Testament and bid thanks to my roommate’s own in place of a new one both with New and Old Testaments.