Three days before Christmas I attended the funeral of a colleague and friend. His name was David. He died suddenly and the church was packed. He and his wife attended a large congregation here in Knoxville and the pastor did not know him well. Several friends and family members spoke about David and then it was the pastor's turn to deliver his remarks.
He started out by telling us he had asked David's wife if he could borrow David's bible. He then read the inscription in the bible: To David from Sherry, 1973.
He proceeded to flip through David's bible, seemingly at random, choosing passages David especially liked. He knew this, he told us, because the pages were bent at the corner, there was blue and red underlining, and notes in the margin.
I was astonished. I had worked side by side with David for over ten years and he never once mentioned God, the bible, or his deep faith. But it was there, all along. It sustained him.
And the message we all heard at David's funeral was incredibly powerful.
I have never read the Bible with any regularity and I certainly never thought of it as a spiritual diary.
Since I had a little downtime over the Christmas season, I started reading, following the recommendations in the Year of the Bible study guide. And I find it is hard for me to put the book down.
Join me?
~ Katie High
No comments:
Post a Comment