Rapture

Just to clarify, this is not going to be a serious post on premillenial or postmillenial. It's just a post about how much I LOVE to read. ...wanted to get that out of the way for anybody who's looking for deep theology today.

I don't know if anybody has noticed the Books by My Bed section of the blog. I copied that from somebody else's blog, but it's one of my favorite things. In case you are wondering, I do read almost all of these books and a few more thrown in. Since my 40th birthday, I've noticed that I've not finished more books than I ever have in my whole life. I'm giving myself permission not to waste my time if I don't like it within the first few chapters. Bold, huh?

Occasionally I've had the pleasure of substituting in a Sunday school class of older women. They have embraced me as younger and not as wise, and I love them too. One day, one of the women interupted the lesson and asked me when I had time to read all the books that I talked about. Before I could even answer, she said, "Oh! I know! Your house is a mess, isn't it?" The whole room cracked up.

I have to say that my house IS messier than I would like, but it's not too bad. I'm just one of these people who has a book or 2 going all the time. I have to be careful, though, because it can lead to serious neglect of my children and other living things in my charge. Mostly I only take stacks of books on vacation. I'm a bookworm, and I'm proud.

Last night I was watching Pride and Prejudice on public television (the next best thing to the printed version). Barry just shook his head as he walked upstairs. "I love even your nerdiness," he said. That was a version similar to what my college roomate and one of my best friends in the world, Anna, said when I decided to take Shakespeare as an elective and "just for fun". She double-checked with, "Are you sure you don't want to take human sexuality or underwater basketweaving?!" I was sure, and I have to admit that I loved every minute of it. My prof was as nerdy and into it as I was.

Anyway, I don't want anybody to be shocked by my selections. I'm going to be honest about what I'm reading. You can give me flak if you want, but I'll start with an admission. Everything that I read is not Christian or written by a Christian. I don't agree with everything I read, and I've pretty much trained myself to be a constant filter. I don't shrink away from reading something that I don't agree with, however. I won't read stuff with anything resembling pornography or hideous language, but I often find inspiration from ideas in books that challenge me. "Being Perfect" by Anna Quindlen is one that I based a message on. Anna is WAY left of me and probably not a believer, but she made some beautiful points. I latched onto those and forgot the rest.

"I Feel Bad About My Neck" is a book I picked up the other day by Nora Ephron. I know, the neck thing is becoming an obsession, but I couldn't resist. She expressed her love for reading in a way that I said, "Yes! That's me!!!" Here's what Nora said:

I've just surfaced from spending several days ina state of rapture--with a book. I loved this book. I loved every second of it. I was transported into its world. I was reminded of all sorts of things in my own life. I was in anguish over the fate of its characters. I fel alive, and engaged, and positively brilliant, bursting with ideas, brimming with memories of other books I've loved. I composed a dozen imaginary letters to the author, letters I'll never write, much less send..."

I encourage you to pick up Nora's book. You'll be outraged at some of what she writes, but most of it will inspire you or make you laugh, laugh, laugh!