The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Faded Levi’s and Bibles

Episode Date: August 10, 2018

You're listening to The Jeff Kaven Show, Episode 76, Fated Levi's and Bibles. Hey, I'm Jeff Kavins. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general. It's the Jeff Kaven Show. Hey, welcome to the show again this week, and glad you could join me. We're talking about things that are related to being a disciple of the Lord and how to walk out our faith.

Beautiful day as I'm recording this overlooking a gorgeous lake and just taking a few hours to relax and spend some time with you. And got a really interesting show today. I'm going to talk a little bit about faded Levi's and how important those were to us when we were growing up and faded Bibles. And what's the relationship between them? I do appreciate the mail you have been saying. sending me tons of email, and we read it, we appreciate it, and I'm going to share a couple of those with you today. One of the most requested things that we have had on the show is directions on how to rank the show, on iTunes and Google Play, and how to leave comments. And so we're going to give you that information in the show notes. And if you don't get the show notes for every show, then simply write me, it's an email, The Jeffcaven Show at ascensionpress.com, and we'll put you on that list.

You'll get the show notes every week, and most importantly, you'll get information on how to rank the show and how to leave comments. I want to share a few emails before we get into Fated Levi's and Bibles today, and I have been getting some really good, good feedback and some questions. One is from Stephanie, and Stephanie writes, and she says, You've helped me to learn the Bible through the great adventure. Now I'm a stay-at-home mother of two boys, three years and nine months. I find myself not prioritizing as I should. I simply make ends meet with the boys, the home, cooking, cleaning. I feel my most important responsibility is teaching my children about Jesus,

and sadly, I feel I'm failing at that. We do go to Mass. We do meal prayers. we do night prayers, but I feel I'm lacking something. What, she's asking, what routine, advice, books, studies do you have for small children and beyond, what's the best way to go about raising holy kids who stay with the faith? Excellent question. And, you know, there's so much we could talk.

In fact, we could make a whole show out of that, to be honest with you. But I do want to mention one thing, Stephanie, and that is, and I'm going to put this, I'm going to actually put this in the show notes. I highly recommend the Great Adventure Storybook. My wife, along with the team of three other ladies, put together what I think is the game changer. It's the best tool to teach your children scripture. And this is really important, Stephanie, because we have to share the story of salvation history with our children. And if they don't get it from us, I can guarantee you. They're probably not going to get it from their parish. They're not going to get it from a CCD program.

they're not going to get it in a lot of the schools that they attend. This really is the responsibility of parents. And so I'm going to put a link in the show notes, the Great Adventure Storybook. What the ladies have done is they mirrored the great adventure for adults by breaking down the entire Bible into the 12 periods and then following the 14 narrative books of the entire Bible plus the book Revelation, and they walk you through it at a children's level. And it is, I truly believe, a game changer. I can't say enough about it. Also got a letter all the way from Nigeria. Hilda writes, and she says, I'm from Nigeria. I'm a cradle Catholic, and I have been struggling with my Catholic faith for a while. I've finished reading your book, My Life on the Rock, today. Thank you for writing your story. I decided to search for you online, and it came across your podcast and downloaded your shows, and since it's nighttime here, here, I decided to listen to show 50 about the examined prayer first.

And I think we call that late-night Christianity. That's episode 50. She says, I have known about the prayer for some time, but I haven't been diligent about it. I like the way you broke it down. It will make it easier for me to follow. Thank you. And she says, when you mention those American cities at the end of the show sometimes, she said, I smiled to myself and have included Benin City, Nigeria.

Well, everybody in Nigeria, hello to you and welcome to the show. It's always good to have brothers and sisters listening from Africa. Got another note, and this person writes, and she says, I just listened to your kindness show, and it reminded me of an email I got from an acquaintance. We are doing a new directory at church, and I was checking people in to have their picture taken. There was a small problem with the appointment of this acquaintance, and her husband and I had to do a lot of extra kindness to make it all happen. She was so sweet to send me the following message, which May made my day. Marilyn, I just wanted to let you know that my non-Catholic husband had nothing but nice things to say about you.

For 45 years of marriage, he has supported me in my Catholic faith. He has met many priests and many parishioners throughout our Navy days and beyond anything. thinks you are one of the nicest persons he has met. Just thought you would like to know, have a good day. Isn't that nice? You never know. You know, you're being kind to someone, and you never know, they might be judging the faith based on how you treat them. And so it's always important for us to go out there and hand out free samples of Christ to people. And now to the topic at hand. Fated Levi's and Bibles. It was just a couple of days ago. I was sitting in a Harley-Davidson dealer, and I was getting ready for a big journey that I'm going on with about eight guys. And we are taking off on Monday on our motorcycles, and we go from city to city, about 4,000 miles in a week. And it's an evangelization tour. We share Christ with people at gas stations. And wherever we go, we get an opportunity, and we're going to be speaking at a number of churches.

And so I'm going to be going through Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, and Arizona, and we're going all over. We're going to have a wonderful time, good fellowship. I'll put the information in the show notes about the places we're going to be, but I ask you to pray for us. But anyway, I was sitting at the Harley Davidson dealer, getting ready. I had to get a couple of pieces of equipment, one, to hold my phone, you know, in front of me when I'm traveling, so in case I get a call from my wife or someone in the family, I can take that call. And I was looking at all the clothes in the store. And no doubt you have seen people with motorcycle clothes on or it could be a car, BMW, whatever. You know, people have a tendency to wear the clothes of items that they're fond of. And I was looking at all

the clothes in the store. And I noticed that there are some really cool brand new t-shirts and hats and jackets, and the clothes that look like they are waiting for a 20-year adventure. They're just brand spanking new. And then I also noticed that there are some that look like they've already been on a 20-year adventure, but they haven't, you know, and they are faded, they are frayed, and ripped in some places. They're sold as brand new, but somebody toyed with them. I mean, somebody made it look like, hey, this shirt has really been on a journey. And it got me thinking, you know, why is vintage so classic? You know, you might think, oh, I want a 68 Mustang, you know, or I want that model of a falcon, everyone was driving when I was in high school, or whatever,

whatever it might be. Why is vintage so classic? Why is it that we buy faded jeans? Why is it that that old pair of shoes or that old leather purse with a patina, why does that hold so much value to us? You know, vintage things are classic for a number of reasons, because sometimes those vintage things really are cool, you know? And there's a story. My daughter came home one time, and she said, Dad, she said, this is just a couple years ago, she said, I saw the coolest thing. and I said, well, what was that? She goes, I was in my friend's car, her dad's car, and, you know, the windows to get them up and down, they rolled them up and down. It wasn't electric. It was, it was, they rolled them, and it was so cool, so fun. And I'm thinking, wow, I mean, that's called old-fashioned, but she thought it was just plain cool. And one of my friends, her daughter, 19-year-old, was in the car with her while getting gas. As a friend of mine, she told me the story. a while ago, Kelly's daughter. And it was pouring rain. So she said she went to one of the gas stations that pumps your gas for you. And a guy came out, handed the credit card to the worker

and said, fill it up. And she asked, does, her daughter asked, does he work here? And when they got done, she said, you need to tell me he pumped your gas and you never had to get out of your car. Mom, if this catches on, it's going to be huge. so you know a couple examples there of of people who think that this vintage stuff is just plain cool but vintage things are also classic because they bring back a memory or emotion about something special in your life and that's that's how it is for me my wife and i are in the middle of downsizing and going from one house to a to a much smaller townhome and we're forced to go through all these boxes of memories and things and we have to make a decision do we get rid of

this? Do we give it to the goodwill? Do we give it to the kids? Do we give it to the church? What do we do with all of this stuff? And there's some things that we have that carry with them incredible memories. And they really speak of a journey that we have been on. And I don't have it in me to get rid of them. Some of the other things, not a problem. But some of these things, I just don't have a heart to get rid of, you know, some of these, like an old t-shirt, the first t-shirt I bought Emily on the first date with a cat on it. She showed it to me the other day. I didn't even know we had it. She said, should we get rid of it? No. That, that says something, you know, about our relationship. As I was looking through my computer a few years ago, Emily and I had an opportunity to digitize

all of our photos from the time that we were born on. Everything. I mean, everything. And we sent it out to a service and they digitized everything for us. And I'm looking at those pictures way back there in 1957, 57 to 63, some of those first five, six years in my life. And I compare those with pictures that we've been taking, you know, in the last year or two. And the picture of me sitting on my dad's lap in 1963 is so much more priceless to me than a picture of me at the State Fair last year eating a footlong hot dog, you know. And have in front of me, and I'll I'll put it in the show and let's give you a picture of it. I have in front of me probably my most memorable thing, you know, my most special item in my life.

And that is, that's my grandpa's Bible, my grandpa Kaven's Bible. And I got this Bible after he passed away. And as I look through it, it's an old, faded Bible. And it has all kinds of verses that are underlined. and it has special inserts in the back that were precious to him. And I haven't moved anything in it. I keep it like that, and I like to look through it. And I'll show you a picture of an open page of it, but it's my grandpa's Bible, and it's old and faded.

And when I see that Bible, it reminds me of a journey, a journey that he was on for years and how he met with the Lord for years, and the evidence of it is the well-worn Bible, similar to a well-worn pair of jeans. I have my Bible that I used for, man, I must have used this for 20 years. This 15, 20 years had it rebound a couple of times. And my Bible is so precious to me because as I look at it, I don't carry it around anymore because it's old, but I have two other ones that I use that are getting old.

And as I opened it up, I wrote things in the cover, inside the cover, that I would have never remembered in a million years, but they were important things in my life, and I wrote them down in the Bible. Like, for example, I'll share this with you. Let's see. First week in July, we found out we're going to have a baby, finally. The baby is due, April 11, 1985.

Next entry, Emily first felt the baby move, November 10th, 1984. We heard the heartbeat at three and four months. The first time was 148 beat. a minute. The second, 128 beats a minute. November 13th, 525 p.m. I felt the baby kick for the first time. 32985. Emily came home at 5 p.m. with contractions. By 8 p.m. we were in the hospital, dilated to 5 centimeters. That's her. 10 p.m. 8 centimeters. Carly Janine Kavens was born at 112 a.m. 7 pounds, 3 ounces, 19 inches. And I've got other information here where we moved into a house. or another major event in our lives.

My point is that this Bible has become sort of a record of the journey of our lives, not only our lives and moving around in the decisions we made, but they're wrestling with God you can see on those pages. And it's got an old leather cover on it. And that's one of the reasons that we actually make Bible covers available at Catholicgear.com. And we want people to take care of their Bibles. We want people to use them for years and years to come. A Bible really means an awful lot.

An interesting side note here, one of my friends said that when she was in Assisi, she was reading her Bible in the morning, is Assisi in Italy, reading the Bible in the morning, and as she closed it to put it away, she spilled a splash of tea on the leather cover. And at first she was bummed, but then said recently to me that now each time she picks up the Bible, that stain reminds her of the day she spent with St. Clair at Assisi. She said, I love that it brings back that memory.

It's kind of like scars on your body, isn't it? It brings you back to a memory. There's something about a faded pair of jeans that tells a story. When I was a kid, and maybe you can relate to this. When I was a kid in seventh grade, I had a problem, a big problem. My mom bought me a new pair of Levi's, which is cool. They were expensive and in style, much more stylish than the normal Sears tough skins that I wore in grade school, but I had a big problem. They looked new. I had to make them look old and lived in. And so back in the 60s, we would let out the cuff at the bottom, and they were typically bell bottoms. We let out the cuff, and they became frayed. And that cuff, that cuff, if it was frayed at the bottom was cool, if it was not let out, you were considered

sort of a nerd. And so I can still remember we'd want to rub our jeans with sandpaper trying to give them the impression that we had a big, long journey, you know, in those jeans. And I remember asking my mom, can you wash them again? Can you wash them again? They look too new. Well, eventually the market caught on and said, we'll do it for you. We'll make the jeans look worn in. And it's going to cost you a little bit more. But how many people would rather wear a worn-in pair of jeans than a brand-new stiff pair? There's something about the faded jeans that tells a story of the journey that you have been on. The same with shoes or a backpack or whatever it might be. And we are that way about a lot of things. We like that used look. I don't, I think

there's a mystery there in some ways, but we like that. And when I say that to people and they go, I don't know, I do know. We do like it. And there's something about a pair of worn out faded genes that tells a story, and there's something about that Bible that is worn out that tells a story as well. Oftentimes, I've kidded, you know, a publisher I work with Ascension, that we need to, we need to invent designer Bibles, you know? Here, send your Bible into me, and for $350, we'll fade it. We'll make it look like you've been on a journey. We'll make it look like you really do walk with God, you know? It's joking, but you wonder if there's a market there. We'll give you an old fated Bible that's worn in and marked up and everything else. And, hey, impress your

friends. No, we're not going to do it. But it reminds me of the time that I first met my mother-in-law. And she was not my mother-in-law at the time. She was just the mother of this girl I was attempting to go out with, later married, Emily. Alice, and I remember the first few months that I went over to her house. She sat me down at the kitchen table, and she opened up this blue leather, old Schofield Bible. and I would sit there and watch her read and talk to me and I looked at the Bible and I've got to tell you, I don't remember the scriptures that she shared with me. I can't even tell you today that it was Romans 3 or Matthew 10 or whatever, but I've kept looking at the Bible and I was aware that this lady walked in this Bible. This lady lived in the Bible. She talked to God. She had a relationship with God. And looking at that Bible was the equivalent to me of looking at her journey. And when I looked at the Bible, I thought, she walks with God. And that's what I wanted. And that's what attracted me. I remember, you know, when Scott Hahn and I did our father's plan for EWTN, a 13-week show all the way

through the Bible, I believe they're still running it. One of the episodes, I looked at Scott's Bible, is so marked in and tattered. And I grabbed it and I held it up to the camera. And I said, look at that. And to today, that's the episode that people talk to me about. Yeah, remember when you showed us Scott Hahn's Bible, that was really cool. Well, later on, Scott's Bible went a missing at one of his conferences, and that was a real exercise of detachment for him, but how painful that must have been to have something that you walked with for 20-some years, and suddenly, it's gone. It's gone. I'm also reminded of Deacon Joe Mahalek in the Twin Cities, He is a great deacon, and we do a panel at the end of the year for the Cate Catechetical Institute,

and Deacon Joe is up there with his catechism, and what people remember, they remember what he said, but they also remember his catechism because this thing is a mess. The cover is gone, the pages are all ripped up, and he has it held together by a rubber band, and people want to look at it. You know why? because it says this is a guy that's been wrestling with the faith and digging deep and it says something about his journey. It's very interesting. So ladies, and I'll mention this and then I'll take a break. Ladies, did you know that today you can purchase a pair of Dulcci

and Gabana distressed boyfriend jeans for $195? Get a couple pair. I mean, they're not going to last as long as a new one, but hey, they really have that, you know, wealthy worn. in. Look, can you imagine that $2,000 for a pair of worn in Dulcci and Gabana jeans? Now, you're going to Google it, I know, but don't buy it. Save your money. Put it into Bibles for people. And like I said, for $350, send your Bible to me. I'll distress it and send it back to you in a week. It'll look like you've been walking with God for a whole long time. My P.O. box number, no, I'm just kidding. Totally kidding. Hey, I'm going to take a break. When you come back, I'm going to come back, I want to talk to you a little bit more about this. And, uh,

And with a final challenge, you're listening to the Jeff Kaven show. The Bible is such an important part of our Catholic faith, but it's not always easy to understand. There are 73 separate books and so many names, places, and events that sometimes we just stop trying to figure out how it all fits together. The good news is, the Great Adventure Bible studies make it easy for you to understand the Bible. By focusing on the story that ties all of Scripture together, the Great Adventure Bible studies give you the big picture. of the Bible. And once you see the big picture of salvation history, the Mass will make more sense, the Catholic faith will make more sense, and you will see how God has a loving plan for your life. The Great Adventure Bible Studies have helped hundreds of thousands of people

to understand the Bible and grow closer to Christ. There's no other Catholic Bible study series like it, and you can get started on the Great Adventure today by creating your free account at ascensionpress.com. And welcome back. We're talking about faded Levi's in Bibles and things that are old that we like and we like them. Sometimes we're not sure. But we like them, I think, because they speak of a journey that we have been on. And before the break, I was joking about send your Bible to me and I'll distress it for you. And I'll give you that lived in, walked with God's look. It'll cost you a little bit, but hey, looks are everything. It's like, like the old country song, you come up with country song lyrics, it might look like you've got something, but you ain't got nothing, right? We truly have to live in our Bibles. There really is no such thing is buying a distressed Bible. You have to live in your Bible, in your brevity, in your catechism. We have to read the Word of God again and again over and over to live in it.

I have three Bibles in my life, two that are kind of retired because of how many times they were rebound and they're just, they fall apart. The one I'm using right now is kind of getting there. And I'll probably have to go to a fourth one, but I hope to give these Bibles away to my children and my grandchildren when it's all said and done for me and give them, like I have received from my grandpa, some kind of indication that, yes, I love God and these things are really, really important. I'm reminded of three scriptures, and I'll put these in the show notes for you. Deuteronomy, 1719, it shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the Lord His God by carefully observing all the words of this law

and these statues. And that speaks of a well-worn Bible. Read it all the days of your life. Joshua 1-8. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night. that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have success. And so a well-worn Bible means that there's a person that that book of the law shall not depart out of their mouth, but they're going to meditate on it day in night. And we've got two shows in the backlog on this show, on my show. One is on the Examined Prayer in Episode 50, and then we did also one on the Lexiore.

divina and how to hear from God. So I encourage you to go back and look those up. Revelation 1.3, Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and heed the things which are written in it for the time is near. We are continually, as Catholics called to be in the Word of God and to read Scripture and to obey Scripture. And so I truly believe that every Catholic should have a worn Bible, a Bible that says this is really where I get my counsel from, and this is where I get my direction from, and correction from. Now, we don't want to get so caught up in sentimentality that we live completely in the past, right? Remember that scripture in Matthew chapter 9? Then the disciples of John came to him saying, why do we and the Pharisees

fast, but your disciples do not fast? And Jesus said to them, can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away. away from them, and then they will fast. And no one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wine skins. If it is, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed, but new wine is put into fresh wine skins, and so both are preserved. Just a just a comment reminding us that you can't completely live in the past. If you've got new wine in your life today, it doesn't go in old, shrunken wine skins, but something new. But there is

something special about those worn-out genes in that faded Bible. And I was talking just recently to a group of teachers, and I was talking to them about the power of a teacher, the influence of a teacher. and one of the things I said to them is let your students, and this is a good word for you, if you're a DRE or an educator, let your students see the tools of the trade. Okay, what do I mean by that? Let your students see you handle the Bible. Let your students see you handle the catechism or the prayer book that you have, whatever it might be, your rosary. People are interested in your world. When I speak around the country, oftentimes people say, could you mind if I see your Bible? Well, they're not just looking for a Bible. They want to see my life. That's what they're looking into. And as a teacher, demonstrate these things. Let people see you with that Bible.

Don't just teach from notes, teach from the Bible, so that they catch a vision for that. That's really, really important. And so I want to encourage you that whether you have a brand new Bible or you have an old, faded Bible, I want to remind you what John 15 tells us, and that is that we are so connected to Jesus. It's like the vine in the branches, right, and that we can do nothing without him. The most important thing about the fated Levi's and Bibles is not the fact that they're faded or worn, but the fact that we have been actually in relationship with Jesus. It's one thing to read it.

It's one thing to study it. It is a completely different thing to do it and to really walk with him as a disciple. Yes, that Bible will be a visual testament of your walk with God and your intimacy with God. But as I have said before, you can know all of this. and you can know all church history, and you can know the encyclicals and the catechism and the history of the councils and so forth, and never actually get into the game. But if somebody looked at your library, they would probably think, wow, he's been in the game. But that's only something that can happen between you and God and that intimacy on a daily basis.

Like that new country song I wrote, it might look like you've got something, but you ain't got nothing unless we press in and really experience Jesus Christ. And so next time you bring your Bible out and you got the grandkids around or family, be aware that just seeing that, as I'm going to show you a picture of my grandpa's Bible, just seeing it, just seeing it. And knowing that it's yours is a witness. Don't hide it. Don't just put it on the bookshelf. Don't just put it on the coffee table. put that Bible out where it can be read and people can see you reading it, your children, and it can be something that you can refer to like a cookbook on the counter. Often, you know, you'll have those cookbooks open and you're cooking.

Get the real book out there. Well, it's been good sharing with you this week. I just had that on my heart, you know, when I was at the Harley Davidson dealer looking at the fact that you could buy these clothes that it looked like the journey had already been finished, but it hadn't even begun. and wondering if maybe that's some of our case, you know, when it comes to Bibles or Theta genes. So once again, I encourage you to give me an email and tell me a little bit about your thoughts and your experiences. And if you have ideas for the show that you'd like me to try to tackle, I'd be happy to entertain that idea.

My email is The Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com. And again, if you need instructions on how to rank. the show or make comments on iTunes or Google Play, then simply write at that email address, The Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com, and request the show notes. You'll be on a list then, and we'll make sure we get those out to you. Let's close in prayer. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen. Lord, I thank you for giving us your word, and I thank you for the gift of the printing press, and that we can all have a copy of your love letters to us, your direction and your correction, and the revelation of who you are. We can all experience this.

Lord, may we not just keep your word on the shelf, but may we take it with us. May we read it, meditate upon it, dulexio divina, examine our lives at the end of the night. And may this truly be the focal point, the plum line of our life, your word. And may we be those who hear your word and do it, not deceiving ourselves. I thank you, Lord, for your word and give us a hunger, oh God, to go deeper and deeper with you. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen, name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Remember, pray for me. When you get this, I'm going to hopefully give some updates on the show here on the road, but I'll also put in the show notes the churches I'm going to be speaking at over the next week, and I hope I get to meet you on the road. God bless.

Thank you.