The Old Rugged Cross

So, I am going to do that Mark 13 blog entry. Mark 13 is one of those chapters that is very easy in parts and very complicated in others. So I am still researching it (if this sounds like a cop out it might be). But I have something else on my mind today as well.

You see, I often struggle with my traditional, conservative self facing off with my revolutionary, progressive self. Part of it is that I am a moderate by nature, and part of it is the fact that I am moving from the time in my life where try to make the world the way it should be, to the part where I am learning to live in the world as it is.

So, you say, what does this have to do with an old rugged cross? Well, nothing specifically, but of course that song takes me back to my childhood, and of course appeals to my conservative side.

So, what does this have to do with anything? Well, as I was going to look at Mark 13 today, I was thinking where is my Bible? You see, we have tons of Bibles around the house, but often I will forgo them in lieu of an online Bible. My progressive side says it is much easier to compare different translations, and it is easier to use an online Concordance.

But part of me loves a well used Bible. Notes in the margins. Worn out pages. A cover that has been bent back. Hilighter. It is just so appealing to me. I mean I know I can't give my Bible to God and it doesn't really impress him.

So is it just a tie to my childhood and something that I really love, or is it a point of pride for me to have a "well used" Bible.

It is something I need to think about.

Mike