It was just a brown leather Bible
He carried it to school every day
We all made fun of him for it
And snickered at him when he prayed.

Everyone thought he was strange
Only a fool would be seen with that book
That stuff was fine around Mom and Dad
But why ask for a disgusted look?

He had no friends to speak of
At lunchtime he’d just sit and read
It never seemed to matter to him
He thought those words were all that he’d need.

I wanted to make him angry
But every time he’d walk away
There was no way that I could insult him
No lasting remarks I could say.

The time came for the school trip
I had waited for it all year
We’d be flying all the way to England
My excitement overcame any fear.

I looked at the list in disbelief
And found that he was on there!
The guy who never said two words to anyone
I wondered if he’d signed on a dare.

But next day when I boarded the plane
There he was, third row back
With his Bible and a notebook and pen
Looking as if there was nothing he could possibly lack.

We were flying over the ocean
When the warning light came on
Everyone panicked, what could we do?
The engine on the plane was gone.

Almost as if in a daze
The moments passed so slowly
I saw him helping people into parachutes
All the kids who’d thought of him as lowly.

After what seemed an eternity
He and I were the only ones on the plane
A single parachute hung on the wall;
He gave it to me; I said, "Are you insane?!"

He told me, "You need it more
I’m going to a better place
I don’t think that you know Jesus
But soon I’ll be seeing His face."

"Take this with you, Jeanette,
You’re someone that God wants to save
I hope you’ll be able to understand
The amazing gift that He gave."

"But this is your Bible!" I said,
You take it everywhere you go
You love it more than friendships;
More than anything else you know!"

He said, "I’m already saved
I can do no more with these words
You’re the last person I’ll be able to tell
But you can make sure that they’re heard."

As I jumped out of the emergency hatch
The last thing that my eyes did see
Was him pinning a note to the seat in the middle
That said, "I’m with Jesus, to God the glory be."

They found his body a few weeks later
Then they laid him in the casket
I felt such pain for his sudden death
I almost couldn’t mask it.

I looked at his face through the glass
And I thought, "Now isn’t it odd
That the one place his Bible didn’t go with him
Was his place in Heaven before God?"

It was just a brown leather Bible
But its truth changed two lives that day
He’s in Heaven; I’m coming soon after …
And that’s all that I have to say.