Power of the Written Word

Remember the Autograph Books we used to pass around in school? You would try to write something cute, maybe a rhyme, then, sign your name? I remember this one from my school days: “When you get married and have twins, don’t come to me for safety pins.” Or, “When you get old and cannot see, put on your specks and think of me.”

I hope you remember autograph books because I want to tell you about the day I found an old autograph book in the attic of a very old house. (Was about this size, small, and had a black velvet cover) It must have been a pretty thing many long years ago. Now it was tattered. The pages were yellow. The messages were faded and hard to read. Some of the pages were loose. You could tell that the autograph book was very old.

On the first page, in fancy lettering, a message was: “To Nettie”.

“Please remember Eva, Bettie, Frances and Emma. Sunday, February 13, 1898.”

I wondered who “Nettie” was and why that date was important ... maybe her birthday? 1898! These words were written 114 years ago. More than likely by high school age kids, maybe 15, or 16 years old. So we are are talking like, maybe, the writers who wrote in the old autograph book could be 130 years old! I began to turn the fragile pages carefully and read them.

A girl named Ruth wrote: “In your album I claim a spot, to write the words: ‘Forget me not’.

Another person wrote: “Remember this and bear in mind, that a good, true friend is hard to find.” The signature was too faded for me to read.

Maybelle said: “Leaves may wither, flowers may die, friends may forget you, but never will I.”

Mary shared wise council when she wrote: “Be ever faithful, kind and true. love many and trust but a few.”

Another message was from Edith. It was eerie and strangely prophetic: “When the name I write here is dim on the page, and the leaves in this book are yellow with age, still think of me kindly and never forget, that wherever I am I remember you yet.” Woah! Edith’s name really was dim on the page ... and the leaves of the book really were yellow with age. {114 yrs. after they were written) The words in the dusty old autograph book have long outlived all of the young folks who penned them.

When Edith wrote that message do you think she thought that we would read her words and smile, 114 years after she wrote them? Kind of boggles your mind, doesn’t it?

When I held that dusty old Autograph book in my hands I was reminded that words are awesome! How do we know about the old ship, the Mayflower?

(Because of the records the pioneers kept) How do we know about how the first settlers came to Texas? {Because the homesteaders wrote letters and kept journals) The written word is very powerful!

That makes us remember another book of antiquity, the Holy Bible. God’s Words still live ... and still bless ... and still speak to us today ... Living Words that echo to us across the span of 2000 years. Words of blessings, hope, new life and salvation! The Words written in red ... I love the words written in red ... are direct quotes from the mouth of Jesus. We know about them from the testimony of the last eyewitnesses, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, who were there ... and saw it all ... and who faithfully wrote it down!

I have a Scripture for you: it’s what the Bible says about itself: “The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the Word of our God endures forever.” Isaiah 40:8

Verta Brown lives in La Grange.