The Bible.

In middle school, high school and even my first year of college I memorized, studied and read out loud passages from the Bible. I can still sing the song that helped me memorize the books of the Old Testament. "Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy....." As much as I've studied the Bible, I don't think I'll ever be one of those people that has read the Bible cover-to-cover and can quote any other verse than John 3:16 or "In the beginning.."

To be a good Christian, Jew, Muslim, or even Jehovah's Witness, do you have to be able to be a walking Bible?

On June 4, when the initiation ceremony is performed, the Church will give me a Bible and it's highly likely I'll receive one as a gift from my family or my boyfriend's parents. Then what? It's something I want to keep, a physical symbol of my conversion process, I just haven't figured out what to do with it. Do I just put it on a bookshelf next to my textbooks? Should I buy a nifty case for it? Should I keep it in the drawer on my bedside table, like in a hotel?

I have a few months to figure out where to put it, but I can assure you that it will likely never be read cover-to-cover and although a part of me is ashamed, I don't think that you have to be a walking Bible or name every book in it.