My First Signed Book

I'm not actually that person who would line up to get a book or anything signed by the artist behind it. In fact, I see it pointless to have a signature on a book that I would shelf after reading. Some may say it offers prestige and increases the value of the book, I still find that my interest in the book would eventually diminish as time goes on.

Yet last Sunday, someone gave me his book and signed it and I wouldn't mind shouting it out loud in the world.

I actually dreaded the coming of Sunday. I scheduled an evaluation session for an adult patient. With the way his family contacted me, it gave the impression that they were stern and hard to please. So with a heavy heart, I went up to the steps to the rehab department of MAMC and hoped that at the end of the day, this would all be over.

Then the patient came. I expected someone with a grudge on the world who would snap at anyone coming near him. Most of the adult patients I have experienced before were like that. It turned out that I was wrong. I met a ray of sunshine outside that sitting room. I saw him sit there beside a young woman who turned out to be someone he did not know. Who would do that aside from some missionaries I know? Who would blatantly talk and introduce himself to a woman he does not even know and even give her a book with his autograph?

I felt a slight pressure with the way he approached the woman and gave her the his book. It's either this man was a missionary or some celebrity with a strict family. Apparently, I was right on both counts. He lived the life of following God's mission since he met Him. At the same time, he appeared to be almost a household name among old Seventh-day Adventists families. I was too honored to be with him and probably this is what God wants me to do.

The session began with a lot of laughs from the old guy. He was so enthusiastic and so eager to tell of his life story to everyone he meets. He was the epitome of faith as he ascribes every praise I gave "up there." Although I could not get his words, his gesture of pointing upwards with that thankful look was enough to tell me that he kept a steady faith in God.

I guess it was his ministry to meet all people and share his book. It is this ministry that prompted me to write this post. I stood firmly on the belief that every patient I met is confidential, but I guess if the patient leaves a trace of his life to everyone (no exceptions) he meets, mentioning and writing about him seems like helping him leave his legacy to the world. I also think that as long as I don't mention his name or his condition, it would be alright to share this piece of experience.

So as the session went on, he laughed heartily for most of the session. He smiled at every praise that I gave and kept on pointing up ward with an accompanied unintelligible utterance which sounded a lot like "praise God." It was amazing to see someone so happy amidst turmoil.

At the end of the session, I was not surprised when he didn't immediately stood up and left. He beckoned his daughter to bring out a soft bound book and started to write on the front page. His hands were unsteady but he was able to make his writing clear and legible. He wrote my name, and John 3:16 and then tried to scrawl his signature on the page.

Afterwards, he gently took my hand as well as his daughter's and started to pray. Anyone overhearing his words would never understand a single word he said in his prayer. Even I had a hard time understanding it, but does it really matter? God reads the hearts not the words, doesn't He?

That was how I got my first and probably most treasured signature on a book. A man who seemed demented and bent with age yet still had the vigor and the enthusiasm to reach out to all people. As I flipped through the book and scanned its pages, I knew then how he came out to be this way, he was just living the Old time religion that he has been living out since he met Jesus. I hope we could all be inspired by his story.