How important is the Bible to you?  Do you have one that you keep in a kind of sacred place in your home, or is it stuffed in among many other books on a bookshelf in your basement?  I ask this question because of an ancient story I came across this week.

    It is a story that one of the Desert Fathers told. According to the story, a couple of very curious travelers who were toying with the idea of making a pilgrimage to a holy shrine in order to be closer to God, came across a desert hermit. The hermit invited these curious travelers into his little hut.

    Now this hermit was reputed to be a very holy soul and the travelers were delighted at the way he tried to make them feel at home in his humble dwelling.  He shared a simple meal with them which they enjoyed. Then they shared some conversation. During the course of their conversation, the travelers asked the hermit, “As we have been here this short time, we have noticed how sparsely this place is furnished and that it appears that you have next to no possessions whatsoever. How do you live with so little?”

    The hermit thought about this and replied, “If you look around you will notice that I have ample floor space on which to sit and eat my meals and to pray my prayers. In addition, I have these two piles of palm branches which make a nice bed for sleeping. I have food. What more could I ever need?”

   The two travelers looked around the little hut and one of them began to speak of how scandalized he was that he could find no Bible anywhere in the place. Finally the traveler said, “Brother, how could you ever be or claim to be a holy monk if you have no Bible in this place? You certainly appear to be a fraud to me.”

    The holy monks reply was rather simple and to the point. He said, “That very book that told me in no uncertain terms to go and sell everything I had and give the money to the poor I sold and give the money from that sale to the poor. There is not much value in having the Holy Book enthroned in my hut, or in even carrying it around with me, if I will not take what it teaches me to heart. Keeping the book is not the same as living its teachings.”

   That little story invites each of us to consider our attitude about the role that the Scriptures play in our lives. Keeping a Bible in our homes is not the same thing as keeping its teachings.