“So, Valerie, how’s retirement?”
“Great.”
“What are you doing with yourself, hmmm?”
“Well, I’m learning Tai Chi with my sister, I just finished writing a short story, I get to see my mother much more often, oh, and I’m blogging!”
“Really.”
“Yes, it’s called Confessions of a Bible Virgin. I am reading the bible for the first time and re-capping it, if you will.”
This is where most heads hang, and mumbling confessions begin.
“Oh, ah, I’ve never read the bible myself. I go to church and all. But I’ve had questions myself. We had a bible at home, but…Well, hey, good luck with that. I’ll have to read your blog." (many don't)
And I sure don’t blame them if they assume my entries are either boring or preachy. (I hope they aren’t!)
Then they start looking at me differently, like I’ve been born again, which leaves them curious and uncomfortable. “Ah, yes, Valerie’s found religion in retirement.” It’s hard to convince some that I am neither for nor against the Bible; I am just a student of it now.
But these encounters remind me that we all have unanswerable questions. Most people belong to a church they don’t go to as often as they used to. Or they'll identify their religious affiliation as, "Well, I was raised ___." And I’ve found only one to tell me she's read the Bible start to finish as deemed by her Mormon church. Seeing the scope of this undertaking, I am impressed!
About every other day, my personal promoter, Tom, will come home and say, “You’ve got another reader.” He reminds them that comments left by readers “are how bloggers get paid.” (not literally, in case you are wondering ☺)
So, keep your comments coming, posted or otherwise. They are what keep me going, because it’s much more tempting to read John Updike’s new novel over numbers upon numbers in Numbers.
Then they start looking at me differently, like I’ve been born again, which leaves them curious and uncomfortable. “Ah, yes, Valerie’s found religion in retirement.” It’s hard to convince some that I am neither for nor against the Bible; I am just a student of it now.
But these encounters remind me that we all have unanswerable questions. Most people belong to a church they don’t go to as often as they used to. Or they'll identify their religious affiliation as, "Well, I was raised ___." And I’ve found only one to tell me she's read the Bible start to finish as deemed by her Mormon church. Seeing the scope of this undertaking, I am impressed!
About every other day, my personal promoter, Tom, will come home and say, “You’ve got another reader.” He reminds them that comments left by readers “are how bloggers get paid.” (not literally, in case you are wondering ☺)
So, keep your comments coming, posted or otherwise. They are what keep me going, because it’s much more tempting to read John Updike’s new novel over numbers upon numbers in Numbers.
Confession #40: I am truly enjoying this chronicle effort.
5 comments:
Though I am quite jealous of your retirement, I am even more jealous of your ability to "just do" the things you are interested in. There are things that I would love to try, but then there is that pesky pile of essays to grade.
I just can't wait to see what you rename this blog to once you've finished the darn thing! I'm sure there will be many suggestions!
b-
Hmmm, probably "Confessions of a Jaded, Heard-It-All, Seen-Everything Wench Who Lost Her Virginity And Kept Her Sense of Humor."
Suggestions, anyone? Let's have a contest.
Bible recapper, I love it! And you would think that the saucy title of your blog would deter people from thinking you're... born again.
I suppose the obvious re-name of the blog once you've read every word, using no discretion to choose or reject passages, would be Confessions of a Bible Whore. But I REEAAALLLLY have a problem with saying that about my mom.
*jenna*
LOL! Again we think alike, daughter. I, too, knew that was the only word for an "over-experienced" former virgin, but I, too, just couldn't bring myself to that moniker for myself. So my commented alternative just dragged out the same idea.
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