The Women of The Saint John’s Bible: Mabel Jackson is the Heart of the Bible

Nearly forty years ago, Mabel Jackson sat in front of her husband, renowned calligrapher Donald Jackson, as he asked her a simple question that would change the course of the rest of their lives.

The couple was discussing the reality of Donald pursuing his lifelong dream to hand-scribe and illuminate all 757,000 words of the Bible. Having spent years touring the world and working as the Official Senior Scribe to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, he had more than established the prestige to convince an institution to commission his vision. With his new relationship to Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, it was looking more possible than ever.

But he knew he would need Mabel to make it happen.

So, that day, he asked Mabel: “Will you support me?”

The answer to the question, of course, had the power to push the project into existence or squash the dream forever. Mabel had much to consider with this decision. First, she felt in her heart that this was Donald’s destiny. If it were to come to fruition, the project would become bigger than either of them.

She was also seven years into a successful career as a therapist, a profession that she cared for deeply. Supporting Donald, in this instance, would mean leaving her career. When Donald came to Mabel with this question, both Jacksons knew he wasn’t just asking for her blessing. He was really saying, “I can’t do this without you. Can we do this together?”

“When Donald asked me at the beginning of the project if I would support him, I knew that it was his lifetime dream,” said Mabel. “I’ve always believed Donald was destined to do this. This was something he was meant to do. So, of course I said, ‘Yes.’”

That day, her “yes” set off a decades-long string of yeses. They came in the form of fundraising support, hiring artists, gathering supplies, hosting artists in her home, and offering key artistic, relational, and business advice to Donald. When it comes to her involvement in the Bible project, the reality is, there’s hardly a part of it that hasn’t been touched by her work or consultation.

“Quite simply,” said Donald, “without any theatrical element to this, The Saint John’s Bible would not have ever existed if it hadn’t been for Mabel. She’s been involved in this process long before it started, since I first left the UK for the States with a folio of work under my arm in 1968.”

Becoming Mabel Jackson

Mabel earned her vast array of skills from many places. For several years, including when she first met Donald, she was a home economics teacher. She continued this for several years, until the Jacksons decided to have children.

While raising their family, Mabel worked several jobs, including freelance catering and working in a shop. Then, she discovered a new passion of hers. While undergoing therapy, Mabel realized she wanted to study to become a therapist.

“At the time, I thought, where do I go now? Who am I?” said Mabel. “I’ve been a wife, a mother, a daughter, but I needed to explore more about myself, so that’s when I decided to become a therapist.”

Mabel specialized in chronic fatigue syndrome, a complex condition that results in long-term exhaustion. She spent many years helping patients process and manage their symptoms. Though she left her practice once it became clear she would need to be much more involved in creating The Saint John’s Bible, she says what she learned during those seven years as a therapist changed her forever.

“When the Bible project started, I realized that actually I couldn’t continue as a therapist. I needed to give more time to Donald to support him in the project,” said Mabel. “So, I let therapy go, but now, it’s part of who I am. It made me realize that you have to just keep moving along and learning all the time. I took that with me into my work with The Saint John’s Bible.”

Leaving her career as a therapist was a difficult decision, but as soon as work started on the Bible project, Mabel knew she was exactly where she needed to be.

“When I walked into the studio that first day, and I saw the calligraphers sitting there working, and I looked at a page of script, I knew that it was worthwhile,” said Mabel. “This project was bigger than any of us.”

Industrial Valleys and Green Oases

Mabel had an inclination towards the arts and humanities from a very early age. She grew up in a close-knit mining community in South Wales, where Chapel played a large part of life and in a family that celebrated and loved music. She sang nearly every day in her childhood.

This is also where her love of nature began. Every day, Mabel was confronted with the contrast between industrial mining valleys and the beautiful Welsh countryside. The juxtaposition made her fall deeper in love with the earth and instilled in her a deep reverence for the flora and fauna of Wales. Her love of singing and nature has endured throughout her whole life. Today, she has a garden full of geraniums, daisies, and petunias, and she sings in a choir group weekly.

Beautiful as her childhood was, it was also marked by profound loss. Her younger brother passed away when she was still a child. This early tragedy shaped Mabel. She didn’t know how to process the loss as a child, which led to her decision to pursue therapy as a career in adulthood.

This early experience did not harden her. It imbued her with the ability to care deeply for those in her life and connect with others. Indeed, one of Mabel’s many skills during the creation of The Saint John’s Bible was making each artist feel peaceful and at home amid the high-pressure work.

Now, The Saint John’s Bible is out in the world, and Mabel’s impact can be seen every day in the soul of the work. As people of all backgrounds and faith journeys find themselves moved by the Bible, and, hopefully, drawn towards deeper connection with one another because of it, Mabel’s influence is palpable.

“It’s very rewarding to see people’s reactions and to know how much joy it is giving to people and how much it’s being valued. I felt throughout the project that we were not alone. We were always helped in ways I cannot explain,” said Mabel. “The world’s in a pretty awful state at the moment. If The Saint John’s Bible is providing solace, peace, hope, joy, and moving people into a better world, then it’s all worth it. It’s very rewarding.”

The Saint John’s Bible: Ignite the Spiritual Imagination

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