Mrs. Chas E. Cowman

Streams in the Desert.

I bought this book that Cowman Publications published years ago.  Years!  They’ve long been acquired by HarperCollins.

This is my new daily devotional.

It opens with a personal word from the author, “Mrs. Charles E. Cowman”.  How sweet.  I hadn’t seen a signature like that since my mom signed the back of my report cards in elementary school, Mrs. Thomas A McConnell.  It brought to mind a nostalgic time.  A tiny detail of my history.  Maybe of yours.

I look on the front cover which has printed instead L.B. Cowman as the author.  Curious, I go to the publisher’s page and find a disclaimer that this was written about a 100 years ago in a culturally different time.  In this edition, most of the language remains true to the original text.  However…(ahh…here it comes…) “some of the original terms and content have been edited out of respect for all people and cultures.”

Is “the author’s name” the content being edited out of respect?

I sought out to find an original edition from 1925 with its cover and its contents not edited out of respect for all people and cultures. Sure enough the earlier edition identifies its author Mrs. Chas. E. Cowman on the front cover, as does the publisher’s page, as does her introduction.  There’s no L.B.

It begs to question the respect due Mrs. Charles E. Cowman who had a ministry that was “unhindered by national, political, or geographic boundaries “ and represented a “cross section of the world”.  Her ministry was worldwide.  “From huts in remote corners of the world to elegantly furnished houses, “ it was stated.

So, what liberties does one take to remove original terms and content of 1925 and with it the respect for the original person, the authentic writing, and natural work?

By what and whose definition of respect edits out terms and content original to a culture?  It’s a rhetorical question.  But, if an author identifies herself as Mrs. Charles E. Cowman in the days of 1925, can we not accept that fact, even in respect of it, in our present day?

Upon marriage, I’m sure these childhood sweethearts were even pronounced as “Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Cowman”.  Even the most recent weddings I’ve attended made such declarations.  So, what if this was her identity?  This whole book is in fact thoughts, quotations, spiritual inspiration which helped to sustain Mrs. Charles E. Cowman, particularly the years she nursed her husband, Charles E. Cowman, while he was dying.

What if the only honorable way she chose to author a book was to identify herself in a way that represented, “one with him.”

That’s what a marriage is.  Two become one.  That’s not a cultural statement.  It’s a biblical one.  It’s a beautiful one.

I mean. Good grief, Scotch Tape was invented in 1925.  That stuck!

Signed,

Mrs. Timothy W. Forrest

Mark 10:6-9