Working on a school assignment, I learned about manuscripts. In the period of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea, when printing techniques were not developed and books were in low quantity, it was common to transcribe books by hand. Such a handwritten document is called manuscript.
Transcription was usually done by those who transcribed by profession, but parents or grandparents often transcribed books for children in the family. Many times, manuscripts were used as education materials as young children could copy letters and learn how to read while reading their parents handwritten stories and lessons contained in the book.
Children who lived far after getting married could feel their parents whom they could not meet frequently through manuscripts. A typical example is a manuscript of The Life of Im Gyeong-eop. This manuscript is special among many manuscripts because of its transcription postscript added at the end of the novel.
A father had a daughter who loved novels. She got married and lived far. When there was a family occasion, she came to her parents’ home. While staying there, she quickly transcribed The Life of Im Gyeong-eop her father had, but she couldn’t finish it without having enough time and had to leave for her husband’s family. When she left, the father gathered all the family members and let them transcribe the novel hurriedly. And he followed his daughter and gave the completed manuscript to her. At the end of the transcription, he wrote as follows. “Your old father, who is ill, has transcribed three or four pages. Read when you miss me, father.” Compared with other manuscripts, this manuscript was made by many people in haste. That’s why handwriting styles are all different and not well-written. However, it has incomparable value as it contains a father’s love beyond words, on top of the novel itself. It doesn’t take much imagination to visualize how happy and grateful the daughter must’ve been when she received the manuscript.
Doing the assignment, I felt parents’ utmost love delivered to me over hundreds of years. I could also understand the hearts of Heavenly Parents who are the source of love.
The sixty-six books of the Bible and the Truth Books, which I leaf through habitually, are infused with the love of Heavenly Parents who have not spared great efforts and sacrifice to teach us the law of heaven, the truth, and the heavenly home we will return to. Until this age, we can feel God’s true love and have hope for heaven thanks to the Bible where the way of salvation was written by Heavenly Father through numerous prophets for thousands of years, and the Truth Books where He Himself wrote each and every word all night long.
As the father’s writing in the manuscript said, “Read when you miss me,” whenever I miss Heavenly Father, I will read the Truth Books He left to us and remind myself of His noble love. There are still people who haven’t fully realized Heavenly Parents’ love. As a young adult, I resolve to take the lead in saving the world by preaching the truth of life.