Bindings of Life
Why do you love libraries? Why do you love books? I love them because of all the possibilities each book holds within its binding. They hold the stories of life that fill us with richness, excitement, learning, and creativity! Sometimes they invite me to wonder what binds my life together. Let the browsing begin…
Library shelves are full of books held together with different bindings of rich leather, hand stitching, and embossed titles. Some are covered simply in stretched cloth or paper but the aroma of print pulls the reader in close. Open the novel, each page unique and deep, imparting a human story and personality, in precisely typed words and sentences on silky paper. Imagine the keys typing out the rhythm of life - birth, growth, death.
The chapter and verse of virtuous ancestors triumphing over trials with faith and hope, moving towards a better place. Examples of regaining balance through loving relationships of family and friends. In starts and fits, pauses and actions, words tenderly capture the lulls and activities of creation floating along the river of life, gaining wisdom to pass along.
Romances, bound in old-fashioned type, tell love stories embellished and woven with phrases of endearing desire. The rush of passion turns into vows, till death do us part. Long-lasting couples log a lifetime of patience and giving. Promises made and kept. Obligations upheld. Bits of advice along the way to fuel those following in love.
Pages in old history books cry out to be held. Voices teach and share, hand over lessons of war and fear. In smokey dust, men fight and women gather, while elders pray amid chaos and blasts. The repeated story of nations overcoming oppression, battling for a common purpose, and victory echo through time. Times of conflict, times of diplomacy, and in the middle, lives lost and displaced. The insight gained through different paths that we can only hope teach the future warriors and peacekeepers.
Paper, sutured together with thread, holding words that speak comfort to sadness and fear. Accounts of overcoming illness and pain through medical advances or miracles, while others tell of recoveries long and arduous. Fights to the end - the inevitable end - that fill youth with vigor and passion. Some record the repercussions of accidents and natural disasters. Recognizing powerful persistence throughout time gives rise to comfort in shared pain, with hope for improved lives.
Move to the section of books about love failed, chronicled in memoirs, aged with tears of lost affection. Selfish choices open wounds that run deep and painful. Poetic words try to soothe the sadness from within, but still a sense of hollowness. Filling the emptiness and loneliness is an arduous path to walk and real counsel only comes from a heartaches’ journey. Reading how others have overcome gives strength to the brokenhearted.
Colorful, used books of adventure and fairytales take the reader away to imagined escapades, embracing joy and fancy. They are narratives of brave explorers, brilliant artists, and magical places full of color and light. These volumes spark our desire to create happiness and fun. The worn, lettered pages are made smooth by many hands, dreaming the same dreams, sharing through all generations.
On the top shelf, the oversized, white leather book with golden edges holds Genesis stories so old they begin time. Prophesies and parables thread the divine with human existence. Psalms tell of lament and praise in ages past. Events reveal the one, true agape love that holds up and carries all the other stories. Whether war, illness and death, love or loss, the Word proclaims the source of comfort, courage, and peace to the reader.
Here in a library of collected books, anecdotes lift the history of humanity back up to heaven where true inspiration will be found. Tales bound up in lives of trials, dreams, and joy are playbooks full of direction. The bindings of life, held firm in hand, guide the reader’s mind, encourage the soul, and toughen the will. Here, the student can learn from characters facing trouble or triumph. Listen, identify, and note their choices.
Bit by bit, that’s all she wrote…