Newspapers regularly publish stories about unexpected finds. At this writing, we are preparing a story about the unexpected find of a more than 100-year-old missionary society minute book. Sometimes the stories involve Indian relics, finds in what apparently were once trash dumps or archeological discoveries like the mastodons of Jewell County and the creatures near Angus.

Earlier this fall, a Superior resident bought in a family Bible and a more than a century old medical book found as part of a furnace replacement project. The words of the Bible are still appropriate today, but I would...