Life at the Bookedy...

Some days, I swear I want to bring home every book in the store. Today is one of them. But I'll restrain myself... and only bring home one. Maybe.

It helps that I've been steadily digesting a stream of good books lately... What is the What (Dave Eggers). The Once and Future King (TH White), The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (Carson McCullers), The Way of the Heart (Henri Nouwen), to name a few. Kind of like with running, the more I read the more that I want to! If I had more time, I'd ramble on about all of them. But I'll restrain myself... and only ramble about one. Maybe.

This morning, I finished The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. I'd originally checked it out from the library on CD for the trip down to Alabama this past weekend, but couldn't finish it in that format because one of the CDs was badly scratched. (Grrr... of course it stopped at a really crucial part.) Upon arriving home Tuesday night, I promptly borrowed the book from my good friend Juli and am now done. Oh, it was so good. Very well written. Very good story. I feel like I made a whole slew of new friends! Though our stories are in no way identical, I see parts of Lily's story in mine. The sheer telling of the story watered seeds of God's truth in me that the soil of my heart always seems to want to choke out. Looks like I've got some digging to do. :-)

I'm thankful that I'm not a particularly fast reader. Reading & writing are how I learn, so I tend to ruminate on the things I read. I take the words & story in and I feel like I literally digest them... I invite them to dwell in me and root around. Unless it's a textbook... that's a different story - you know, study mode. Unfortunately, this is the way I learned to take in Scripture too. Study mode. That's good in its time, I think, but Scripture is also story. God's story, and now my story too. I want to digest God's story the way I do with books. I want Him to dwell in me, to root around and find a home, to change me from the inside out. I know that He does dwell in me now in the person of Jesus (my Savior and Friend), but something's been missing. I think that perhaps it's been Jesus as the Word. I pray that that will change soon!

In the meantime, I will continue reading & digging & hoping & living.




"Really, it's good for all of us to hear it again. Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can't remember who we are or why we're here."

August Boatright from The Secret Life of Bees
by Sue Monk Kidd