Most people put up pictures of themselves that are flattering, but I was shocked at the way Daddy taped this picture in his study.
He titled it "LORD SENILITY". He'd written ボケさまunder the picture, and put it on the bookshelf, on the wall, on last page of photo albums! I think he wanted to make sure he didn't take himself too seriously.
Most people put up pictures of themselves that are flattering, but I was shocked at the way Daddy taped this picture in his study.
But I wanted people to think well of Daddy, so I took the pictures down and hoped not too many people knew about them. I wanted to show the words of acknowledgement he'd received for over half a century of service, display the unquestionable time Daddy had spent in study of Scriptures.
I thought they represented Daddy better than that silly ole' picture!
Daddy's Bible. I so wanted that. I wanted to pick it up, browse through it, especially some of the passages we'd talked about, and see what notes he might've written in the margins. Mustn't, mustn't. I could see myself losing myself going from one passage to the next to see what Daddy found and messing up the pages of the precious museum piece that needed to last a long time...
I caught myself recalling the time I'd accompanied a friend almost 20 years previous, in northern Japan, whose father had been one of the first preachers in Japan. She'd told me her father's Bible was now kept under glass in a Christian museum. At that time, I'd said silently, "The Bible is a Living Book to give God's joy to men, not just to put on display!"
"Nah, you don't want people thinking about some senile old grampa," I knew Daddy would say if he were around; and he'd probably add: "Junie, if you want, you can get rid of this bookshelf and take the Bible to get a good look directly at the Lord Himself--that's better, don't you think?"
