After writing the first draft of the first chapter of my first book, I sought feedback from a friend. Once he read it, he said, “Uh, it was good.” His tone, however, contradicted his words. So I asked, “What didn’t you like?” He replied, “You talked a lot about the Bible. I felt like I could’ve just read the Bible. I liked your illustrations, though.” Because I worked meticulously on that chapter, I was discouraged; I even considered quitting before giving Chapter Two a try. And just the other day, another reader said this about my writings: “Larry, you start off really good in your chapters, talking about your life, but then you start talking about biblical principles. Nobody wants to read about biblical principles.”
I hope this person’s wrong, because I’m not budging—though I thought about it. Because I was afraid I might bore or lose you along the way, I considered keeping this post between you and me, and keeping Scripture out of it. But I can’t help myself. Although I don’t always do what it says, I love Scripture. We hooked up over twenty years ago. I was seven; Scripture was in the thousands. (But I wouldn’t know that until years later.) I remember my parents reading it sometimes. And they did something I thought was so cool: they underlined different verses. Back then, I didn’t know why, but now I do. And I longed for the day that I myself would have a marked up, raggedy Bible. That day has come. I also noticed a few biblical books that were pre-marked—in red. That guy who spoke in red really knew what he was talking about; he was so much smarter than everybody else.
Moreover, concerning the problem with Scripture, last week I text-messaged a friend, Diana:
“Call me.”
“Why?” she replied.
“Cuz I want to know y people don’t read Scripture. I wanted u to help me brainstorm.”
“Sometimes ppl don’t understand it,” she said.
“Good good good!” I replied.
“And sometimes ppl don’t understand how the stories in the bible pertain to them and some ppl believe if they go to church that is enough.”
“U smart homey,” I said.
“Well u ask :-).”
I think Diana’s on to something. In the next post, I’ll build upon her insight.
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