Bookmarks

The Seattle U. alumni mug sitting on my desk holds a collection of bookmarks. They come from and represent all sorts of people, places, and events in my past: Borders Books & Music in Tacoma, "If You Give A Mouse a Cookie" from the Salt Lake Acting Company, a beautiful fully beaded bookmark from a friend, multi-color plastic markers from other friends, "It's Good to be Queen", a lovely paper marker with an orange tassel on it with a French reprint from another friend's trip to France, a metallic green one that says Prayer in big letters, and a simple paper one with an Eleanor Roosevelt quote, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." There are also lots markers scattered through the books on my shelves. I'm not sure how to get these precious markers into my Kindle, but I'll worry about that another time.

My daily devotional reading book is on our kitchen table where Rod and I have clearly delineated our spaces. My pile's on the left with his on the right. It's a small table, but so is our kitchen space so it works. I've been using my current devotional book since last May when I picked it up at the Mt. Hermon bookstore and it's larger than most books of this nature. It's a full 5" x 8.5" and quite thick. It came with its own pretty attached silk bookmark so until I went through the locked safe it was just fine.

My Mom filled up the small, fireproof, locked safe several years ago when her mind was still clear, but she also wanted to be prepared for the day it filled with cobwebs. That particular day came into our lives a few years ago and this past year we dismantled her home after she was moved to a residential facility for dementia patients. My brother, Mark, grabbed the small safe on one of his pass-throughs last winter when he was trying to keep her safe and secure at home with daily caregivers. He passed it to me this past October in a parking lot outside Missoula and on one of the nights of that particular visit I sat in our hotel room going through the safe. I thought I knew everything in there, but surely I didn't.

The new bookmark in my devotional book fits just perfectly as it's the same dimensions as the book. It's a very old church bulletin (order of worship) from Olivet Lutheran Church in Orange, CA, Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1957. I found this obscure historical document in her safe and the reason it moved from there to my book is this line: "Baptized today is Sheralyn Rowland, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. George Rowland. We pray God's blessings on this child."

For all the disconnects, fights, and disagreements I had with my parents through the years, the fact that my Mom kept this account of my infant baptism struck me very deeply. I'd known I was baptized at one month old, but I didn't know it was on Thanksgiving Day.

Now when I open my big devotional book I touch the future God's calling me to while holding my baptism day in my hands. There's still unexplored power and significance in this particular bookmark. I'm looking at it's old-style, old type-written presentation right now and it inexplicably grounds me.

Other, even more significant, treasures were found in the safe that now sits just a few feet away from me in my study. Their revealed secrets are for another day.