Tattered

by Rick Rigsby
January 2012

January 2, 2012 would have been Trina’s 57th birthday. An aggressive form of breast cancer took the life of my first wife and my sons’ mommy September 8, 1996. Trina was 41 years old.

I don’t remember much about Trina’s funeral. I recall feeling numb from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. If you have lost a spouse, no further explanation is needed. The only vivid memory I have from that horribly dark day is a brief moment of brightness that continues to this day to light my path.

My good friend Dwight, who officiated the funeral, made a strange request a few days before the service. Dwight asked if he could examine Trina’s Bible. He said that a person’s Bible can speak volumes about them and their relationship with God. I was hesitant to offer the book because Trina’s Bible—an old circa 1980 Amplified version Bible—was worn . . .I mean really worn! The cover was tearing off, the raggedy binding was loosely clinging to the spine, pages had yellowed, and were covered with years of scribbled notes. Trina’s Bible was in bad shape. After more convincing, I reluctantly gave in, saying to my friend, “Trina’s Bible is tattered.” That’s the word I used—had never recalled using that word before and could not tell you what prompted me to use the word then.

My only recollection of the funeral service is Dwight holding Trina’s Bible toward the sky. With a louder volume to accentuate his voice, he proclaimed, “As you can attest, Trina’s Bible is tattered. But it was theologian and preacher Charles Spurgeon who once said, ‘a Tattered Bible is evidence of a life that is not.’”

15 years later—now finally able to smile at the mention of Trina’s name—I thought about her birthday for a moment. Then, I thought about her legacy. Not gold, or silver, or riches or property, or being with famous people, or leaving a collection of exotic antiques. None of those nice things. Trina’s legacy—a tattered Bible—a treasure to our family that far exceeds any jewels one could ever offer.

In our world of go and do and spend and buy, we often neglect our Bible time. We live our lives on the edge with little margin, resulting in us being tired and stressed and irritated and agitated. We squeeze a whole lot of life in, while squeezing a whole lot of God out. Before we know it, our lives are a mess, while our Bibles are spotless.

I learned an invaluable lesson from a dying wife. She may not have possessed all the things our world thinks makes one successful. But she did possess the most important thing—a deep and abiding relationship with the Prince of Peace. And her tattered Bible was and is a living testament to her unmistakable desire to know Him and to make Him known.

Happy Birthday Trina!

Rick Rigsby

Tattered

Comments

Links