Books

BOOKS

Books!  Reading them and Writing them -- both rich activities.  The shelf of books pictured above was on display in the Colonial Williamsburg book bindery building when we visited last year.  These beautiful books are hand-bound in fine leather -- something few of us can afford.  All the books I own are either soft or hard-bound in paper and cardboard, or electronically stored on my Kindle.

I prefer reading fiction on my Kindle and non-fiction in print copy.  When I read non-fiction, I like to underline or put brackets around information that is most important to me, that way I can go back and easily spot something I've made note of.  What is your preferred way to read?  Do you prefer to read fiction or non-fiction, or like me, a bit of both?

As most of you know, I also like to write books.  People might wonder, why?  Well, it's a passion within me which leads me to believe that God must have put it there.  When I don't write for a few weeks, I feel restless.  I have a need to write.  The writer Leo Buscaglia said, "Your talent is God's gift to you.  What you do with it is your gift back to God," which goes along with the words of  author Valerie Fay, "The gift God has given you is not separate from His purpose for our life."  

Famous poet William Wordsworth wrote, "Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart..."  This is something I have done over and over again, hoping that what is in my heart will touch a chord in another heart and be meaningful and helpful in some way -- that it can be used by God for His good will.

We all need to fulfill the purpose God created us for.  Oliver Wendall Holmes, Sr., wrote, "Many people die with their music still in them.  Why is this so?  Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live.  Before they know it, time runs out."  That quote goes along with a poem by Rabindranath Tagore, that begins, "The song that I came to sing remains unsung to this day.  I have spent my days in stringing and in unstringing my instrument."  

We don't want the song God put inside our hearts to remain unsung.  Find your voice and use it for your Holy Father -- in whatever form He has gifted you.  I like what Erma Bombeck wrote, "When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would have not a single bit of talent left and could say, 'I used everything You gave me.'"  

"Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.  Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.  For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised..." 1 Chronicles 16:23-24.