"BIBLIJA"

For the past week or so I have been thinking a lot about my native language (Slovene) and how I relate to it when I read the Bible or the Quran.Allow me to explain myself better...

Some of you maye have noticed that at the end of my last post,I published a passage from the Bible and a verse from the Quran.I chose both of them in regards to my feelings and thoughts of a certain moment of my life.

At first there was an idea going on in my mind and then I looked up for some verses related to it in the Bible and in the Quran.By no means I did this in search of any comparison between the two holy Books,but just out of mere curiosity about how might the same subject be seen through two different lenses.During my reading and researching of the Bible and the Quran I might stumble upon passages or verses that strike particularly my emotions and so I might wish to share them with you my dear readers.This is just to explain that the way I might choose the passeges or verses to publish at the end of a post is purely subjective and personal.Of course,I would be more than happy to read your thoughts about the passeges or verses I decide to publish,but in no way are they put there to be polemized about - because you can not really polemize with God's words.

Now,I know I should explain to you why all of a sudden I decided to publish passeges from the Bible together with the verses from the Quran ( probably my older readers might remember that for a certain period I used to publish only some verses from the Quran at the end of each post ) , but the time for me to do so is just not right yet.Even though all of it has something to do with a decision I took in regards with my religion,at the moment I do not feel like talking about it.At the right time I will tell you everything,trust me.Back to my native language and my reading of the Bible and the Quran...

I do not have the Bible or the Quran in a book form,but I read them on-line.When reading only the Quran I usually consulted only the English version,since this is the language in which I write my blog and subsequently the language in which some of the words from God might be published at the end of a post.When reading only the Quran this system was quite fine with me and if per chance I would have not understood some words or the meaning of a verse I would just have looked for its translation in the Italian ( which I consider my second language ) version and most of the times this was enough for me to fully comprehend the meaning of a verse.Rarely would I have felt the need to look up into the Slovene version of the Quran in order to have the certainty that I grasped completely the meaning of a verse.Of course,I can only hope that I really undersood the true meaning of the words from God.

However,when I started to read the Bible I had a lot of difficulties understanding it,and here I do not mean so much the words ,as much as I mean the actual meaning of some passages or even just verses.I went down the exact same road as when reading the Quran,by consulting it in English first and then maybe also in Italian,but that just did not seem enough.I had to read it in Slovene,too!It was like I would meet a Slovene person in a foreign country,but we would speak in English.In my eyes,that would be very strange.Thus only after I started to read the Bible in Slovene I had the feeling that I was fine and that at a certain point I will understand the meaning of its passages or verses.Or at least this is what I humbly aim and hope to achieve.

By this I do not want to say that the Quran is easier to understand as the Bible.No it is not,but probably in my mind I was looking at the Quran as a holy Book which is completely different from my culture ,my way of life and from any kind of religious notions I had before.I guess I saw it as a subject I had to study first,before considering the idea of letting it enter my heart,mind and whole being.With the Bible it was different.It came spontaneous to me to read it also in Slovene.In the same way as it would be completely normal to me to speak in Slovene to a Slovene person if meeting her abroad.Let me put this in a more detailed example...

It is like when a person who has been living abroad for several years and is very familiar with the language of a given country has a big personal problem.Most likely this person will search for an advice from a person who comes from the same native country and therefore speaks the same native language.That not so much because he might trust the other person much more than he would trust a person from the country he is living in now,but simply because he would feel that he can express himself much better in his native language.In my opinion you can truly express your emotions only in your native language.When you speak your native language you feel in the right place,and that means a lot when you have a problem and you want to talk about it.It is a kind of a good start and maybe you even feel more secure that there will be a solution to your problem.I feel confident that someone who lives abroad will understand what I am talking about.

Sometimes when in Italy I get this strange feeling that I just can not express myself right.Not that I would not be able to find the right words or make good sentences,but it is a feeling within.It is like I know I can say and mean from the bottom of my heart "I love you" in Italian or in some other languages,but only when I say "ljubim te" it comes from within my whole being.This confidence which comes from speaking in your native language,is the same confidence I get when reading the Bible in Slovene.It might even be that I do not understand some passeges from the Bible as well as I understand some verses from the Quran,but still the Bible is something I know and something that comes from my culture,from my home.

Maybe if I had started to read the Quran in Slovene things would be different by now.Who knows...

I hope I made any sense with this post.I guess I just wanted to say,that even though I really do like to read the Quran and it always gives me so much that I can not even tell you,it is not a holy Book that I would know or feel as my own.Probably at this point I do not even feel that the Bible is something I really have in my heart,but I sure do feel like it is something that comes from my world,if I may say so.The first notion I had of it or the first time I heard or read of it it was in my native language - and that is something that stays deeply inside.

To sum up,I think I want to say that there might be a correlation between our native language and how we perceive religious texts - especially the holy Books.

P.S.: Today I will not publish any holy verses.Before doing again so I will make sure I will get the Bible and the Quran in its book form and in Slovene,just so that I will be even more sure of the verses I decide to publish and understand or feel them even better.

So...maybe I could post a verse I came up with on my own.Just a little something that came to my mind thanks to my own experiences.It does not have anything to do with today's post,but at least it is a verse,and this time it is only mine ;)...

Never trust people who are too nice.

(Me.)

XOXOXO