New and Used - LDS Scripture Poem

This poem, by A. Jonathan Vance, was one of the August 1996 New Era Contest Winners and is one of my favorite poems about Scripture Study.

I first read this poem while on my mission in Panama, back in 1998, and loved it so much that I cut it out of the New Era and pasted it inside the front cover of my LDS Scriptures. I often read this poem and every time I do I feel satisfied that I too have come to know of the true value of my LDS Scriptures. If you truly study the scriptures and feast upon the word of Christ you will come to know their value too. Enjoy!

NEW and USED
by A. Jonathan Vance

When I peeled away the plastic,
The cover was smooth and clean.
The pages were crisp, like an apple,
And the gilded edges gleamed.
The binding crackled as
I opened the pages;
The first breath of a babe,
Waking up from the ages.
The magnificent tome was unblemished.
And wouldn't be useful till tarnished.
Years later,
The cover was battered,
And within it,
The pages were tattered.
Any one leaf
Would meet your gaze
With a flood of colors
Like the map to a maze.
Each little nugget
I'd found in my quest,
Had been marked and noted,
Then put to the test.
This book had a price, years ago.
Its value now? You cannot know.

(A. Jonathan Vance, "New and Used," New Era, Aug. 1996, 24)