Volume 31

There seems to be something timeless in the human need to document our days, which is why the hobby has fascinated everyone from American president Thomas Jefferson and author Mark Twain, to artist Andy Warhol.

As far back as ancient Greece, philosophers like Aristotle compiled notes on white paper tablets called albums, from the Latin for white. By the 1600s, educated people were copying favourite passages or poems into blank books to collect what had inspired them. Building on that, William Granger printed books in 1769 with extra blank pages so readers could include autographs, letters, or illustrations related to the subject. Early scrapbookers also added pages to existing books and we know Thomas Jefferson saved newspaper clippings about his presidency and put them in leatherbound albums.

The term scrapbook comes from the brightly coloured paper — "scrap" — left over from printing runs and added to personal albums for decoration. Early books were eye-catching collections of advertisements, labels, greeting cards, Bible verses and illustrations. Even wealthy scrapbook keepers pasted their memorabilia overtop the text of old books and catalogues. By the early 1800s, women had friendship books in which they placed favourite poems, calling cards, and intricate hair weavings made from the locks of friends.

Mark Twain loved the hobby so much he devoted each Sunday to the creation of his personal albums and even patented a scrapbook that had water-activated adhesive for holding things on. When George Eastman invented the Kodak camera in 1888, photographs soon became a fixture. But photography also led to a sharp decline in scrapbooking around 1940 when photo albums were first mass-produced. Then, in 1975, the hobby exploded again when Alex Haley'sbook Roots created a huge interest in the research and preservation of family history. Andy Warhol, for example, tirelessly documented every aspect of his life in 42 scrapbooks and 600 “Time Capsules.” But the biggest surge came in 1980 when the Christensen family displayed 50 family albums at a huge church gathering in Utah. When interest spread like wildfire, the Christensens quickly wrote the first modern manual, Keeping Memories Alive, and opened a retail store, selling acid free papers that wouldn’t deteriorate over time.

Today, pages are embellished with stamping, stickers, die-cuts, artwork and journaling. There are online albums and chatrooms linking millions. Scrapbooking generates $1.4 billion dollar a year and is still growing. Since Mormon families must document their history, many companies are based in Utah where that church is dominant. But other believers have also seen the light. Rhonda Anderson, cofounder of the Creative Memories company, wrote a how-to manual on faithbooking: albums detailing spiritual journeys.

In a figurative sense, each of us must personalize the Bible so it becomes our individual Book; a spiritual scrapbook that highlights the significant events and relationships that shape us. We can begin by asking God to make our hearts clean and white, then inscribing upon them the passages that inspire us. Even though He uses the Bible to get us “fully equipped for every good thing He wants us to do” (2 Tim. 3:17), it’s as if God included several blank pages upon which He wants us to illustrate the Scriptures with the colourful witness of our own spiritual walk. Remembrances of his love and grace can be pasted atop the text and context of our former lives.

Like Mark Twain with his scrapbooks, we should spend every Sunday working on the latest chapter of our story, by using praise and worship to create a lasting, living testimony to how the Holy Spirit has changed and blessed us. When we customize our Christianity, giving others intimate pictures of God’s awesome goodness, people will understand not only our spiritual roots, but that cherished church gathering where we’ll share our stories for eternity.

Those stories written on our hearts won’t fade with time. But even now, they show the incredible uniqueness and creativity God allows in the expression of our faith. Often they inspire others to think about their own stories. So it’s true. Some memories really do last forever.