Proverbs 14:10

I was reading the Bible aloud to my sister, and I came across this verse.

I admit that I haven't picked up and read the Bible of my own volition recently. Not for a long time, in fact.

But as I was perusing through it, it struck me that I had forgotten just how much I enjoy reading it. For me, the New Testament reigns over the Old, simply because Jesus is one awesome guy. No seriously, that's my reason. Reading the four Gospel books that begin the entire Testament is an old joy of mine, pouring through the biography of a man whose footsteps I desire to tread in.

But the highlight of tonight's reading session was not found in the New Testament. It was in Proverbs, one of those delightful books that I esteem above most others. Proverbs 14:10:

Each heart knows its own bitterness,
and no one else can fully share its joy.

When I read that, I paused for a few moments to meditate on it, and then re-read it three times over. Its conciseness, its pithy wisdom, its almost fragmented structure, it all comes together into a single verse that is just so alarmingly beautiful to ruminate over.

Even though I flounder back and forth in my faith, toppling far over the edge at times -- even then there's something undeniably ataraxic about reading my favorite books in the Bible. Some parts of the Bible, I will admit, I find horrendously dull, or horrendously offensive. I cannot read the book of Jobs and come away feeling satisfied at the conclusion; the book drives me to confused distress.

A verse like this, however, is beautiful. In ways I cannot convey, it resonates with me. Even in print, it is mellifluent, it is calming, it is like the hum of angels barely audible over the din and clamor of life.

There are some verses, some passages, that anybody can read and enjoy and admire at its strident and poetic wisdom, religious or not. I suppose for many, this verse will have little effect and meaning for them. But for me, this is a stellar example of how a few words strung together can needle its way into my mind and click itself into the mainframe.

It is like that wonderful moment when you read some line or phrase in a book or an article that completely describes you or your feelings or your situation in ways that you could never even imagine.

The Bible is a thing of solemn beauty; that verse is a thing of quiet reflection. It is followed, a few verses after, by another one that I find resonance with:

Laughter can conceal a heavy heart,
but when the laughter ends, the grief remains.

So gorgeous.