A Gideon Bible in the front room...

As Chaplain for our County Fire Department, my role is simple. I respond to calls to assist the victims and to encourage our departmental personnel. The house fire call this afternoon started out like any routine alarm: “structure fire, in the attic across the whole structure, single level dwelling, and several apparatus on the scene at this time”. When I arrived on the scene, it was clear that this home was fully involved. The firemen quickly made an offensive approach in hopes of saving the house but by all indications, it will probably be a total loss.

While the firefighters were continuing their work in battling the fire, I moved through the crowd to stand alongside the homeowner. For about 30 minutes, we stood helpless in that we could not make things better regardless of the words or actions we would offer. Then, as I listened to this senior man talk about the events of the last few hours, observed as family and friends gathered to help, and was relieved knowing that the American Red Cross was on the way to offer emergency aid, my own faith would soon be encouraged at the strength of this elderly couple.

Once the fire was out and the way was clear, I joined the battalion commander and homeowners in a walk through with a few other firefighters. I have done this before but today was unlike previous occasions. As we listened to the elderly gentleman replay the events of the past few hours and looked at charred artifacts throughout the house, flash lights were pointed strategically in all corners and closets of the house looking for any sign of hope where the fire had not left its mark. As we exited the house, I grabbed a Bible from the bedroom and handed it to the elderly lady and she replied “thank you but this is not my reading Bible, it was on the end table in the front room”.

I entered the back door of the home with one intention to see if I could find her "reading Bible". My firefighter friends and I were not hopeful because we knew the condition of the front room. Nonetheless, with my flashlight illuminating my path into the living room, I was in search of a life giving book that may have lost its very cover to tragedy. Much to my surprise, when I scanned the living room amidst ash piles of burned furniture, wet matted insulation, and paint peeling walls due to the heat, there was a smoke shaded Gideon Bible (the kind like you find in a hotel room) laying as it was left on the center of an end table. When I picked up the charred book, it was still warm to the touch but fully intact. With fervor in my step, I exited the back door to return the reading Bible of an elderly Christ follower whose earthly possessions were now reduced to the clothes and shoes she was wearing.

I overheard the elderly couple calculating the loss in comparison to their apparent insurance coverage and quickly realizing they were not going to have enough to replace their home. My heart was hurting for them. But, in a well intended and meaningful response, this elderly wife consoled her husband with the willingness to live their latter years in the bareness of a simple home due to this sudden tragedy.

As I drove back to my house, with the stench of smoke on my clothes, my mind reminisced this scene and how a simple reading Bible was sparred when all else was lost…a clear indicator that God values the written Word; how much more should we. Join me in wiping the dust from the covers of Bibles on end tables and bookshelves everywhere, then making the reading of God’s Word a daily commitment.