|
from Cossondra If you've read any of my articles, you know I love reading and enjoy libraries. Over the years, I have adapted to contemporary ways of consuming books. As much as I love tangible books, I embraced ebooks a few years back when I wrote book reviews. I like the various features of an e-reader, and they were enormously helpful in reviewing reads. Not only could the ereader measure my reading speed, allowing me to manage time better, but I could also highlight without marking up an actual book and seamlessly move from one device to another. Did I leave my tablet at home? No problem! I could pick up my phone and read the book, synchronized to the last page read. Ereaders are also great for launching into a book when you just can't wait to go to a bookstore or order one online. Instant downloads? Yes, please! I have also embraced audiobooks for the past couple of years. I now move through many books, listening while I'm driving, working on the computer, or completing housework. If I want to highlight something, I can press a button, and a clip of the recording is saved! And good narrators can make a novel much like a play or radio drama. The use of inflection and different dialects helps bring the books to life. Not long ago, I began looking for a specific novel authored in 1954. Although the book was acclaimed at its release, it seems to have fallen out of the cultural consciousness. Consequently, It has not been recorded as an audiobook. Neither could I find it available as an ebook through any of the digital libraries I use. Since I was already reading a couple of books during my search (one audio and one electronic), I started looking for this next read in local libraries. I discovered it through interlibrary loan, something I had forgotten existed. For $2, I could request that the Ben May Main Branch of the Mobile Public Library track the book down for me in other libraries, allowing me to pick it up and return it there. So, I was excited this past week to receive a notification that my book was ready, and I went downtown to get it. I am embarrassed to say that I was a little surprised when the librarian handed me the book. Perhaps I expected a shiny cover or crisp white pages, things Amazon has spoiled me to. But although this was not a first edition of the book, it wasn't new, either. Published in 1965, the book showed its age. The pages are yellow, and they have an irregular edge because they are stitched into the binding in sections. The fabric-covered cardboard cover was once blue, but now is partly green where the sun faded it while it sat in the stacks against a shorter book, its silhouette clearly marked on the front cover. However, while the book was a little worn and perhaps old-fashioned, the story aged well. The plot was enthralling and well-seasoned with dynamic characters, the author brought the scenery to life with detailed word pictures, and the conflicts of the family were much the same as those today. Yes, really. If I looked beyond the setting, during World War II, I could recognize so many of the same troubles families face today. The book features family conflict, marriage, and child-rearing. Characters struggled to make ends meet, and they worried about their children. There was also conflict with neighbors over religion, racism, and politics. But it wasn't all conflict. On more than a few occasions, neighbors and even strangers stepped up to help in crises and in low times. People from scattered places worldwide met in this book and learned to lean on each other because they were, at the core, people. People need each other. Yes, we would love to be able to take care of ourselves without help. We want to be strong and independent and self-reliant! But situations don't always allow that in us. We may need help because of sickness or circumstance or a hundred other reasons. It's okay. It is okay to need help. Jesus said in John 16:33, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." He has overcome the world, but we are still here in it. We are still relying on God to give us with every breath. And we may have the occasion to rely on those around us for help in other things. And some of that help may not look like we think it should -- or what we are used to. Instead of solutions being shiny and new, it could be that we need to look at some old reliable solutions from the past. I am not suggesting that current-day answers are not available. But if you are struggling in a certain area, talk to God about the old paths. Is there something in the old ways of approaching problems that you have overlooked? It happens a lot. I got used to ebooks and audiobooks and forgot interlibrary loans and the comfort of holding a well-made aging book in my hands. The old paths may take you back to childhood trust and faith. Or they may take you back to a brighter season where God rescued you from defeat or sadness. But God's Word puts light on our path. If the new ways do not seem to be working, pray about the old paths. Read an old prayer journal or think about times when God came through for you. There are many times, I know it! But search for them. Don't let them be forgotten. Maybe you should grab an old Bible. Not the one on your phone or your tablet. A tangible one. One that has tearstains and ink marks and old church bulletins stuck in it. Maybe it was the first Bible you used to study from. Perhaps it was handed down to you from a relative. But remember that God's Word never fails and never changes. The scriptures in that old Bible are as powerful as the ones in the Bible App. If you have entwined your words with God's in those pages, consider them again. He says there you will find rest for your souls.
|
