'He who has ears, let him hear'

It doesn't surprise me in the least that when folks express a desire to "recapture their youth" they never want to revisit age 13, 14 or even 15. Twenty-one is a favorite, more likely 25, perhaps as young as 18, but never those awkward, uncomfortable, transitional years of adolescence.

Small wonder.

Nevertheless, I revisited my 13th birthday in my memory this week, only because of the awkward, uncomfortable surprise birthday party my parents hosted for me. (They didn't fully understand just how unpopular I was at that age, but the dearth of guests revealed my deep, dark secret.)

I only traveled back to that age long enough to remember that my gift that year included several 45 rpm records and a particle board carrying case, complete with a handle and clasp, decorated in the "flower power" motif of the day.

You see, on a recent garage saling spree, I spotted an unusual item, one I'd never seen before. It was the New Testament on what appeared to be 45 records. Packaged in a red binder, it seemed a steal of a deal for $1, and I quickly fished out the necessary funds to claim it as my own. As we were leaving the sale a most gracious lady of some significant years called out, " You're going to love that man's voice. You can listen to him for hours!"

Anxious to hear this memorable voice, we went directly to our turntable when we got home. No 45 adaptor. Not to worry, Danny is nothing short of genius, and soon he engineered a makeshift adaptor. We grabbed one of the discs and put it on the turntable.

Carefully laying the needle on the vinyl, I stepped back and heard the Word of Lord -- as read by Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Closer inspection revealed that the records are designed to be played at 16 2/3 rpm. Our turntable only slows down to 33 1/3 rpm.

It took me years, perhaps more than a decade, to read through the entire Bible. I started with my mom's King James Version, which served as our Family Bible through my growing up years. I wanted to read it the way I read everything back then, by starting at page one and continuing until page done. (I always thought it was cheating to read the last page ahead of time even though my dad frequently took away whatever book I was reading whenever he thought I'd spent enough time with my "nose buried in a book." Usually, I never saw the book again, so I learned to read really fast, still resisting the temptation to peek at the ending.)

This style of reading, however, did not work well with my first foray into Holy Scripture. I got through most of Genesis, as I recall, but when all of those genealogies started, I admit I started skimming and soon gave it up. I'd pick it up again, sometimes months, if not years later, but still struggled to make any headway. (Being the compulsive type, I'd usually start at Genesis 1:1 each time.)

Once I left home and got busy making a living, making a home, and wonder of wonders, making babies, my desire to read from page one to page done was set on a burner so far back it was on my neighbor's stove.

But one summer, our family complete, and me a stay-at-home mom, I resurrected the desire, coinciding with opportunity and in the brief moments after Danny left for work early each morning, before the children rose to begin another day, I read, beginning again at Genesis 1:1.

It took all summer to reach Revelation 22:20 and I freely confess, I didn't bother to struggle through the pronunciation guide on the names listed in the genealogies. There was much I did not even come close to understanding, but by summer's end, I had reached page done.

All it really did, however, was whet my appetite. Now that I had read it, in my usual "hurry before life interrupts me again" style, I knew I needed understanding.

In the intervening years I have studied, read and re-read, several times over. Eventually, I was given an independent, non-denominational study to the entire Scripture, which, if diligently followed provides a comprehensive study of the Bible over the course of three years.

I'm on my third time through it.

Danny's experience is much the same. He read through from page one to page done and then re-read the New Testament four times, before starting once again at "In the beginning, God..."

But, even with all of that between us, we suddenly discovered that now we really just wanted to listen. Even though it was Alvin and the Chipmunks, it was the Word of God, and apparently a new appetite had been whetted. Without easy access to the correct turntable, we turned to modern technology.

Bringing home the Bible on CD, (at a price somewhat higher than our yard sale bargain), we immediately placed the first disc into the portable CD player. We were wholly unprepared for the experience. Reading portions the Word of God, silently and aloud, studying it carefully, with comprehensive notes and concordance at the ready, and listening to pastors read select Scriptures from the pulpit throughout the years, we were still unprepared for the power of the spoken Word.

The narrator's voice is very pleasant, and we do listen to him for hours at a time. He has a middle-of-the-road voice, not too high, not too deep and he speaks evenly, with no overt dramatizations, at a measurable cadence.

I'm afraid I have news for my yard sale seller.

It's not the voice, dear lady. It never was. It's the Word.

"Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." Deuteronomy 6:4 (NIV)