Gold Leaf Bible

As a child I was fascinated by a beautifully bound, gilt edged, illustrated Bible which my parents had somehow procured and kept on our shelves for household use. But that lovely volume disappeared after my mother learned from one of my school nuns what an “imprimatur” meant, and that our precious illustrated Bible didn't have it.

These decades later, on a lark, I searched the Internet for a copy of that old beloved volume but couldn't find the one which had been special to me. One motive of my search was to have that volume handy to allow me once again to pull it from a shelf and see how they portrayed Joseph with his fabulous coat of many colors. I was relishing the thought, wondering how many times I would return to the picture and reread the exciting text.

 Alas. But while lamenting my deprivation to one of my ”love to read” kids, my offspring responded, “Why not paint your own Joseph?” I was then struck by the thought that my grandson Judah had recently reached the age at which Jacob presented the now-famous coat to his beloved son (Gen. 37:2). Taking a cue from my progeny, I turned from whining to producing—now followed by sharing! I'm happy to share with you my version of Judah, er, I mean Joseph, in his coat of many colors! Perhaps you might show it to yung’ns in your life and read to them the marvelous story of Joseph and his brothers, which, my preacher husband has often stressed, is the story of Jesus and his ancient people, nestled right there in the very first book of God's word.