Gabby had a special place in his heart and collection for record album covers celebrating the children’s song “Yes, Jesus Loves Me.”   The song has been with us since 1860.  Originally written as a comfort to a dying child, the song has morphed from the original context to a more general, arguably more saccharine one.

His record album covers that celebrate the song:

There are, inarguably, some strong contenders in that batch.  Gabby sent along photos of two “Jesus Loves Me” books from what I suspect is a bigger collection:

I showed these photos to my friend, who is somewhat cynical when it comes to organized religion.  I was surprised at his interest in these photos.  He spoke/sang the words to his favorite verse:

Jesus loves me when I’m good

And I do the things I should.

And he loves me when I’m bad,

But it makes him very sad.

He was fascinated by the blatant introduction of guilt into a song that had been guilt-free.  But, I asked, what did he think of the photos?