More than a decade ago I used this Viking warrior as the logo, so to speak, of a Bible class. You might remember him on TV holding up that small rectangular object and asking “What’s in your wallet?” on behalf of a bank whose name I don’t remember. But I Photoshopped his wallet into a Bible and he asked on my behalf “What’s in your Bible?” Because of the state of my technological resources at that time, he was printed in lo-res monochrome, but now that he’s here in color and blogcasted that bank might remind me of their name and ask me to take down his picture, in which case this long-winded description will have to do.
I ran across the Viking recently while looking for some other old file. I was glad to see him, but I realized I can’t use him again because of his similarity to a more recent meme that is burned into the retinal memory of most Americans. I speak, of course, of then-President Trump in front of a church holding up a Bible in much the same manner and taking a moment to check whether he had it right-side-up and wasn’t blocking the title. I’m sure that anyone who has managed to forget it could search youTube for “Trump Bible” and get a refresher.
Trump and that Bible was of course exploited to say pretty much anything anyone wanted to say about the man—that he’s a Christian, that he was pretending for that photo-op that he’s a Christian, that he wanted to make sure everyone knew what he was holding, that he didn’t know what he was holding, that he reads upside-down, that he carries a Bible in his pocket all the time, or that he has little idea what a Bible is and was taking a moment to read the title on the book.
Like Donald Trump, I’m an old white guy, so what I saw in his movements in front of that church was at least momentary confusion and clumsiness. If I am being rushed into position for a photo (“Not all the way back, John. You’re not that tall.”) and told to make sure the camera can see some object I’ve just been handed (or just fished from my pocket, if you want to give Donald that credit), I will outdo any clueless senile (a word we don’t use anymore) look Donald has shown. I sympathize, brother Donald. Add to that that it all happened in the middle of a busy day in the midst of many far too busy days with crowds and handlers everywhere (a vision of hell for me), and I would be reduced to incoherent jelly. Donald is a stronger man than I in that regard, but he’s used to it. At any rate, though, whatever he or anyone else thinks about it, he is neither a messiah nor a devil.

• Am I using “meme” correctly? I don’t know. I’m not current enough to know how to look at my sister’s Instagram page without youthful assistance. I bailed soon after mastering use of Instamatic.
• If the comments on this page get out of hand, I’ll send everyone outside.