I'd never noticed. The old, tattered book had been on our shelves for decades - maybe I'd never looked inside.
But there it was - a swastika in Rudyard Kipling's stamped signature inside the cover of our dusty, 1925 copy of The Years Between.
I couldn't believe that Kipling was in any way associated with the Nazi, but what else was I to think? His use of the swastika certainly couldn't be denied, so I dug deeper and discovered the truth:
Kipling was so disgusted by the Nazis and the sight of their flag that he removed the swastika, a Hindu symbol of good luck, from his bookbindings. It had been his trademark for nearly forty years but it was now 'defiled beyond redemption'."
Kipling and the Swastika (kipling.org.uk)
While it may have appeared by his use of the swastika that Kipling was a Nazi, he certainly was not.
And maybe it's just me, but I am reminded - and convicted and repent - again at how easy it is to misjudge others by appearances or outward circumstances.
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 ESV
