If anyone knows me for more than a year, they know my weakness is books. People that really know me, also know that the best gift you can ever give me is a gift card to Barnes and Noble.(I love to be able to select the book myself, which is a fault of mine to want control the gift.)
In fact, from time to time I have to ask myself if this love of books is a spiritual problem. In the end, I resolve that it isn’t: only because what I choose to read usually brings edification, enlightenment and enjoyment. That, I believe, is something that God approves of.
I have often thought about from where my love of books comes. I’ve traced it to four, possibly five sources.
The first is from my mother. As a child, I can recall that she treasured books. Odd though, I really don’t have strong memories of watching her actually reading any books, until about my teen years when I would see her reading her daily devotions and the Day by Day for AA: A cup of coffee, a cigarette and her daily devotions. That image sticks in my mind. But I also knew she loved writing. I learned that many of the books on her shelves where books that my grandmother first owned. These now have a place in my library.
The second is my aunt, who for a time I am told worked as a librarian. No more detail than that. Aunt Barb also worked for an author, and a cartoonist. Aunt Barb gave me many books over the years. I still have many of those, kept on the lowest shelves in rooms where my grandchildren can find them whenever they come to visit.
Some teacher along the way encouraged all the children in class to get a library card. The Point Loma Library was one of my favorite destinations. There I discovered Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Little House on the Prairie. I lost myself within the adventures of the old frontier. Many hours were spent quietly tucked in my room, up on my bed, reading the latest adventures. Source number three, like so many public school teachers, is an anonymous hero and guide for my life. Thanks, San Diego Public Schools. Unfortunately I developed a couple of bad habits for library patrons. First, I like to write in the margins of books, and carry on conversations with the authors or make little notes that jog my memory in analysis of the text. Second, I often take as much as a year to work my way through some books, sometimes even longer. Lending libraries dislike the first trait and they tend to exact fines upon borrowers who “forget” to return books. Lo siento, me falta! I rarely borrow books any longer because of those traits. But I gladly lend them to others to share the delight.
The fourth source was the woman behind both my mother and Aunt. (I hinted at her already.) My grandmother, “Grom” gave books, and put her hand and pen to the paper with a unique creative force of her own. She wrote many poems and opinion pieces to the local editor. She was a stickler for grammar and instilled that into all of her children, attested by each of their occupational paths. Grom would have been a public school teacher if the times had allowed. In her day you married or worked but you never did both except in extraordinary situations, like running a farm.. (that’s another topic).
The last source is really the first. It has to originate from the Spirit of God. Honestly, I believe this thirst which is quenched by books is part of what and who I have been made to be. It is part of my nature.
Selecting books is something of a spiritual discipline also. From time to time I find myself in a place of unknowing. I know I need something and can’t put my finger on it until I start walking through the stacks of books in a store. It’s not always a Big Box bookstore. Sometimes it’s the tables of books at a rummage sale. Or the shelves in the back of a thrift store. This year, the best book purchase came at a thrift store operated by St. Margaret’s Episcopal in Palm Desert, CA while we were on vacation. The Jew in the Lotus has been out for a very long time but still holds a fascinating discussion about spiritual practices among American Jews. This one, an autographed copy, I picked up for just one dollar. I’m always intrigued by the process of others reflecting on their spiritual traditions and practices. This book has been a satisfying discovery of Jewish self-understanding.
At other times I’ve had a book recommended by a trusted source. Many good reads came from the United Methodist Women’s Reading list over the years. I’ve never really followed Oprah’s list but that might yet become a path traveled with intention led by the Holy Spirit. Often citations in texts have led me deeper into subjects and created wish lists of out of print books. Finding those is a great challenge which online used book sellers have aided.
My latest great discovery has been the paperback swap website. This requires being willing to mail a book to someone at your expense and receiving “credit” for a book that will be sent to you at senders’ expense. On a couple of occasions this year when I went in search for texts PBS has been able to satisfy my search. That brought great satisfaction in these tight economic times.
Each Christmas season I look for a new Christmas story to add to my library. Frequently it is a children’s story. But this year I was delighted by a discovery which hasn’t yet become the next big hit. No, Oprah did not put it on her list. But those who have read and reviewed this novel mostly join me in giving it favorable reviews. Did you get the subtle hint? I dared put my opinion in writing and post it to on the Barnes and Noble website and you can read that for yourself right here. The Christmas Chronicles: The Legend of Santa Claus by Tim Slover has worked it’s way into my heart and likely will find a way into some sermonizing in the future.
So here we are on News Years Eve. Tim and I are not boisterous partygoers. We enjoy being with people and sharing time with them, but New Years Eve has never been a spectacular party night for us. If invited to a party we will go, but rarely stay to the midnight hour. He often goes off to bed well before Midnight. I have developed a habit to use the last hours of the final day to journal and that includes a mental review of what I’ve read throughout the year. It’s a place of discovery and an invitation to the Holy to guide me in the coming year. What lies in store is yet to be revealed.
There is one book that I find feeds me more than any other. I received my first copy of a Bible when I was eleven years old. It was a paperback copy of the Good News for Modern Man. (Feminist critic withheld). Now there are many copies of The Holy Bible, in virtually every English translation available, from the original Authorized King James Version to The Message. Some have dusty covers. But one is picked up daily for devotion and for study. My love of words is fed by The Word. Thanks be to God. I look forward to 2011 being yet one more new and exciting year fed and sustained by Holy One of God, Jesus Christ and pray that he will continue to lead me to places of service while providing sustenance for body, mind and soul.
I pray the same for you.
Have a happy and Blessed New Year.
I, too, have a love of books. I sit in an office filled with books from childhood (both mine and my son's), school (both undergraduate and graduate), and every excursion into a bookstore or onto an online bookseller. I don't know where my love of books came from. I know that my mother was a reader and still is to this day. I remember reading romance novels and Agatha Christie mysteries as a teenager. I once asked my mother what I was like as a child. I don't remember much of my childhood before eight years of age and she said I loved books and a boy from the neighborhood. I believe too that my love of reading and writing comes from the innate Spirit of God in me. I sense God nudging me to explore reading and writing even more and I just wanted to share that with you. I like that you have a blog and think that you should continue writing. Let me know when you get published.
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