My Mother’s Old Bible — A Mini Memoir

My mother has been gone from this world for almost thirteen years now. As time grows, my love for her doesn’t lessen, but my pangs do. I still miss her, but knowing she’s with Jesus has lent me great peace these years. However, my respect and admiration continues to grow.

I have inherited her love of books. I’ve acquired 25+ books in the last year, and have been doing some significant moving and organizing of them in my personal office; I’ve gotten serious about creating a reference section for Bible study. A silver lining of our basement flooding last year has been increased reading in my office, which has enlightened me on how much more focused my reading can be (sans kid interruptions), and how greatly it can benefit from reading near my reference materials. One of the things I’ve particularly enjoyed in the past year has been utilizing my Concordance more (I inadvertently bought a King James Version (KJV) years ago — I prefer ESV or something comparable). In order to translate, I’ve been using my mother’s old KJV Bible… and it’s brought a smile to my face on many occasions.

An Old Bible

The Bible is my ultimate instrument to know God, who He is, His sovereign plan of salvation through Jesus Christ, and the treasured object in my life. It is my comfort, my joy, my security, and each individual Bible I own tells a unique story because its centrality to my life means each copy is tied to that point in my life and points thereafter as it is used. For example: my ESV Study Bible (my favorite) was a Valentine’s gift from my wife when we were first dating. I will never forget that.

This is true for my Mother’s KJV Bible as well (this was not her only one; she had many). She wrote and marked in it frequently from what I can tell. I’m not surprised; she was a Godly woman with a humble, active faith. Its dated with her maiden name to December, 1965, when she was just 23 years old (I was still using my NIV Student Bible at that age). It may sound strange but this Bible has a very distinct smell: it smells like my childhood.

Her notes pages are littered with Scriptural passages, poems, notes, and theological statements or categorizations. Right under her name this beautiful saying is penned:

“This Book can keep me from sin and sin can keep me from this Book!”

A quick Internet search seems this was an adaptation from something written in John Bunyan’s Bible. Must be true since it’s on the Internet. And just below this it reads in her recognizable penmanship:

Lord Jesus Christ
(Master – Saviour – King)

(Even the way she spells “Saviour” here is a sign pointing to the age of her Bible, before American usage of this spelling declined)

And I love the poem she has written on the very first writeable page in her Bible:

“How Thou canst love me
and be the God Thou art,
Is darkness to my intellect
and sunshine to my heart!
Praise the Lord!”

Another quick search shows this was a stanza in Harsh Judgments, a hymn well over 100 years old by Frederick Faber.

What She Believed

Her beliefs — some examples: Romans road, Schofield influence, Exodus dating (1550), Red Sea crossing theories, etc. — are notated here and there, and give a window into her formative influences and theological development.

I believe a worn, marked-up Bible is a beautiful thing, for it shows that hands have touched it and eyes have gazed upon it. I smile when I open her Bible to Philippians and see that the pages holding Philippians 1:29 – 2:14 are no longer bound and are hanging by an inch of paper shared with the facing page.

See, she believed that this book was paramount to her life, hence why she returned to it again and again. In a recent interview I heard this morning, pastor/theologian John Piper said the Bible is the book that he returns to most, because “God speaks to me”. It may sound silly, but that brought me to tears. It is true. This book has the words of life. Where else can I go?

In the very back of her Bible, in fact the last yellowed page, she has a reference to Philippians 4:7 as an important verse for mourning… to bring peace. I no longer mourn my mother. I have peace. I have peace because I know she has experienced realized hope, she lives with her Saviour now.

Perhaps remembering her through this Bible is the best way I can honor her and remember her.

My mother loved her Bible. I love my Bible. I wish the same for you.