John 19:22 Pilate answered "What I have written, I have written."
Pilate, who earlier asked the Christ "What is Truth?" and then did all he could to stop Christ from being crucified, stood firm on the truth he had discovered. So firm, that he put it in writing, in three languages and publicly displayed it so all could see: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
This made many people upset but Pilate stood firm. If he could have elaborated he might have said "Let the record show and let history record this truth: Here is the King of the Jews".
There is something about the written word. It's permanence. It's transparency. I have always preferred the written word over the spoken word. Every day, it seems, the media has a retraction from a politician, a celebrity or a sports star that what they had said was not what they had said or meant. This is why I believe it takes more courage, more thought to put to paper what could be read by thousands. It is rare a retraction is made for the written word because once it is on paper it might as well be writ in stone.
When I peruse my journals, most that will never see the eyes of others, I am taken back to the foolishness and seriousness of those moments. The schmaltzy teen-age love poems; the paragraphs of hurt and rejection; the elation of that first kiss and the confusion of what I would be doing with the rest of my life. As I have matured, my journals have matured but I still find solace in those written expressions of my life-in-the-moment. I think it is safe to say that of all the things I have carried with me through life it is the written word that has consoled me, inspired me, enlightened me, enraged me and carried me. The written word has been the constant, be it my own words or the words of others.
I am a lover of the binded book. I look warily on the e-book revolution that has taken place. I like the feel of a book in my hands, the antiseptic smell of a book just off the bookstore shelf or the musty odor of a book found at a yard sale. I like walking through an airport and being able to spy what other people are reading. Can't do that with an e-book.
I like walking into a Barnes and Noble to see the vast kingdom of books before me. I like the time it takes to hit all the stacks and try to find the I-never-would-have-thought-to-buy-that-book-unless-I-saw-it book. I find no romance or intrigue in scrolling down a computer screen to pick out a book.
I also desecrate books. I write in them, I underline the thoughts and the passages that strike me. There are very few books in my library that have not been cut by my ink sword. In fact, I have purchased borrowed books when I have become so lost in the words I forgot the book was not mine and marked it as if it were. I like the motion and the familiarity of turning the page and of dog-earing the page when finished for the moment. Can't do that with an e-book.
Trust me, I catch the irony in expressing these thoughts in a paperless blog.
I understand the new technology. I use the new technology. The new technology has made my job easier in preparing sermons, in counseling people, in growing in Christ. Yet, nothing compares to my first preaching Bible that sits in a box in my office. The binding is tore from use and the pages are stained with tears and coffee. Margins are filled with my scrawled observations and God's prodding. Exclamation points and question marks abound after certain passages. The Bible I preach out of now will soon be boxed and soon I will get to break in a new one. I love those old Bibles that chart my growth and history as a Pastor.
I could get the new E-Bible. Many preachers are reading off of I-Pads and I-Phones. It would be convenient. It would be quicker. It would be totally up-to-date and relevant to the congregation. Yet, I think I will stick with the binded Bible.
Whether you are an old nostalgic soul like me or a cutting edge techno-geek we must understand that God understands the power of the written word. If there is one book we must read it would be His Word. E-Bible or Old-musty Bible the Truth of the written word stays the same and continues to impact lives: Christ became one of us, lived like us, died for us, and rose again so that we might have a restored relationship with God. He put it in writing. God has written what He has written. And I am forever thankful for His Written Word.
