Some readers might see this title and think I am writing about our heavenly father, God. No, I am writing about my own biological father. I had thought about calling this piece “A Voice from the Dead,” but I thought that some might consider that somewhat morbid, possibly even spooky, although it is a phrase that is often used to refer to a message that we receive in some way from those who have already passed on.
One of the blessings that we have received from our father is that, shortly before his death, we discovered the trove of diaries and journals that he had written. Most of these were retrieved only 10 days or so before he passed away December 15, 2019. I had not nearly finished reading them all by that time. Indeed, it was only last month that I read through a couple of notebooks that were records of his devotional time, I would surmise. They are lists of copied Bible verses, poems and other such inspirational quotations, along with some of his own reflections on these. They cover the period from October 25, 1946 to May 29, 1947. Actually, the first notebook of 80 pages has only three entries in 18 pages. The second like notebook only has seven pages with five entries.
Now if you know me, you know that my birthday is in October, so it was a pleasant surprise to read what our father wrote on October 25 or in the days following prior to the next date of entry of October 29. At the end of the first set of entries I just referred to, father writes:
“Asking! Praying – of God 1. To bring back my darling to be healthy and full of joy ready to serve
him with me (both) fuller, deeper than ever before – until the end.” Then… 2. was what really caught my attention: “To let my darling bring along
OURS (capitals his), who will be an aid to the message of salvation and who someday too shall hear from God, that “well done” because of faithfulness to Christ.” There are six points here but I will only copy one more,
4. “To give us together (family) a life filled with blessings from on
high, joys unspeakable, a life with unselfish service for our dear
Lord and Savior.”
The OURS in number 2 refers to me! Mother had gone to her parents in Winkler, MB, to give birth to me. Father and his sister Elsie were in Oxford House, MB, where our parents were pastoring for the United Church and Elsie taught in the United Church Indian day school.
Those of you who know our father know that his life was spent in answering a call to be a missionary, as they were described then, then a pastor, and also a Bible school teacher. Indeed, according to his own autobiography, which is not complete by any means, he writes that he started attending Herbert Bible school in the fall of 1938, when he would have been 17 years old. This was after helping his parents move from Saskatchewan to Manitoba. He joined his older brother Peter and some other relatives and friends in this institution which was located in the small town in Saskatchewan near which he had spent his earlier years growing up. The following year, 1939, he returned home to complete Grade XI in Winkler. The next year, 1940, he went to Saskatchewan in late summer to work with a threshing crew. However, that was not to continue. Through the intervention of an aunt and the support of a cousin and his work crew manager he ended up enrolling in the first of three years at Prairie Bible Institute in Three Hills, Alberta. Those years were not easy – he never went home, and had to work to support himself. Indeed, it adversely affected his health and he ended up with stomach problems which lasted for some time. However, they were very formative spiritually, and at the end, he was also baptized by the school principal.
If one reads father’s 5-year diary from 1940-1945 it is replete with comments related to how he experienced life as a believer. The foundation had been laid for a strong faith which sustained him until he went to join his Maker and Redeemer at the age of 98. It was that faith which led him to compose that prayer for me, just days before I was born. Now it is my prayer that I do not disappoint him, nor, more importantly, the Lord he prayed to.
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