Lynn Jones: Treasuring what we read
By Lynn Jones
Several years ago, I was sitting in the waiting room of a doctor’s office in Tupelo reading a book. I do not mind sitting in waiting rooms very much because they are wonderful reading places. You have a perfectly good excuse to sit and read without feeling any guilt that you ought to be doing something else.
Typically, waiting rooms do not have my favorite kind of reading material, so I usually bring my own. On this day, I sat immersed in a book I had brought. With pen in hand, I was underlining passages, making notes at the bottom of the pages, and writing things in the margin that I wanted to file. As I was busy scribbling in the book, I caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of my eye. She was about four years old and was observing me closely. Finally, she interrupted me with her question. She asked, “What are you doing?” Somewhat startled, I replied, “I’m reading a book.” Looking me squarely in the eye, she said, “I don’t write in my books.”
I was so startled by her corrective tone that I did not know what to say. For a moment, I felt just like I did forty years ago when my mother caught me writing on the wall of my bedroom. Before I could think of a suitable reply, she shot me what I interpreted to be a “holier-than-thou” look and walked away.
I have often thought about what I should have said to that little girl that day. Maybe I should have said, “You see, Kafka said, ‘If the book we are reading does not wake us up, as with a hammering on the skull, then why do we read it?’” I am always looking for books that wake me up like that. Whenever I read something that taps me on the skull, I try to write it down before I forget it.
Ernest Campbell was telling of reading a book by a creative author. He said, “It is a treat to sit in a sidecar next to him while he cycles his way through some difficult terrain.” I always like to hop on board alongside an author who carries me on an exciting journey.
Of course, the greatest book of all stirs us most deeply. The Bible was never written for us to read and put down. It was written for us to read and to respond. Thoreau once said, “Any person will go out of his way to pick up a silver dollar.” In a far greater way, the Bible has golden words that we need to go out of our way to pick up and store in our heart. (I’m glad that little girl didn’t see me writing in my Bible that day. No telling what she might have said to me).
Lynn Jones is a retired pastor who lives in Oxford. He does supply preaching for churches in his area and often serves as an interim pastor. Jones is also an author, has written two books and writes a weekly newspaper column. He may be contacted at: kljones45@yahoo.com.
