A Gift From My Dad
My dad was a great student of the Word. He was neither Pastor nor Preacher, but he often taught Bible classes and was constantly studying. He had a large library of books, some of which he never really used but just bought because, well, you just never know. And besides, they were on sale and looked interesting.When he died over 20 years ago, I got the books. (They were "my third." Only my family will get that.) Some I immediately devoured, some I put away for later, some I stored. Recently, in "The Big Book Move of 2008," I went through everything and added some to my growing theological library. Seminary requires a whole different kind of book, so I put some in the bookshelf that were more resource than reading.
My Biblical Interpretation assignment over the past few weeks has been a word study. We have gone through a lengthy and detailed process of chasing down the meaning of one particular word from a text that we are spending the semester studying. It is tedious, but not without rewards. The fifth step of the five-step process is to verify your findings in an approved text. The only text that is available online did not include my word and I was forced back to the syllabus to find another one. I figured I'd spend some time in the Theological Library at the seminary one day after class checking to see if all my work on this word had paid off.
"But wait!" thought I. "I may as well check my bookcase first. One never knows."
No. One never does. There it was, on the third shelf. The Bauer-Arndt-Gingrich Greek-English Lexicon, one of four approved sources of verification. What in the world my dad wanted with such a book I have no idea. But the thought that he bought it...just in case...did cross my mind.
Thanks, Dad.
posted by Thurman8er @ 3:51 PM
6 Comments:
Your post gave me chills.
I've used that same book many times. My aunt and uncle bought it for me when I got out of high school.
I got rid of about 2,000 books when I left the preaching profession, but still have the most important ones ... most are research tools.
This one was so neat! I'm a saver, so maybe that's a part of it, but the connection with your dad was special!! Tracy :)
The Spirit moved him, knowing you'd need that book one day!!
Thanks...Let me just go now to the restroom and try to get myself looking decent again! Very sweet.
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