Little Pilgrims

Peter and James are back home from school because their class is taking standardized tests for several days. Though they are doing beautifully with their English, they're not yet ready for that.

Today after lunch, when I reached for the book,"Little Pilgrim's Progress", the boys pulled their chairs up close. They followed my reading easily enough, though at times I paraphrased it. After about two pages, James grabbed my arm and said, "Mom! I know what is this!" He understood that he was hearing an allegory. The boy in the story was given a Book (the Bible) and was mocked by his playmates for reading it. I stopped to ask if they understood that, and James said thoughtfully, "That happened to me."

Someone at a church had given him a Bible and he used to read it at the orphanage. I had been curious about how he knows so much of the Bible, even details about Old Testaments prophets. Now I know. He says he has read the whole thing. An older boy saw him reading and said, "That book is not true", snatched it, and set fire to it with a cigarette lighter. James said, "It was mostly burned before I could get it back." I asked where the Book is now, and he acted out digging a hole. He had buried it, and that is where it is now.