We had an old black leather-bound Bible in the house. Dunno where it came from, but I assume it was in someone’s family for a long time for it was quite worn. I wonder where it ended up. Probably tossed when the family broke up, which is a story for another time. I remember picking it up from time to time and reading it. Well, attempting to read it as it was a King James Bible and the diction/syntax befuddled me. It did serve a useful purpose amongst us kids, however, when one was made to swear (as in solemn oath vs cuss words). For example, someone would challenge another on the verity of something spoken, one would place one’s right hand on the Bible and swear it was true. Or perhaps to confirm a commitment – i.e. you would swear on the Bible that you would fulfill a particular promise.
No one ever told me that the black book was God’s Word, God’s Truth, or any such thing. I only knew that if you lied while swearing on the Bible that it was really, really, bad, and you were violating something sacred. Plus, if you did so, something pretty bad would happen to you.
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