books on my bookshelf….
January 12, 2011Since we would soon be leaving, I decided that we might as well not put anymore money into our small apartment until we get back. Why spend money on household items when no one is here to use or enjoy them? My husband, on other hand, disagreed and said he wants our apartment to feel like a home when we leave so that it will feel like a home when we get back. I very much saw his point, and we went out and bought another bookshelf and table cloth, decorated our walls with hangings, and I pulled out boxes of odds and ends and selected items that would complete the “home” effect. That was last weeks project.
This week, in my more “home” like atmosphere, I find myself constantly staring at the books that line our new bookshelves. What do they all have to say? Would I be better off to read them all or worse off for having such conflicting knowledge in my head? Is the reading of many books really wearying to the body as Ecclesiastes says? And what does that mean? Should I read “The Irresistible Revolution” by Shane Claiborne or simply “The Revolution” by Heather Zydek? Do the ancient saints really have more wisdom and truth, or is it the new “relevant” Christian authors that I should be reading, or is it both?
I don’t really know. I struggle with the idea that everything you read influences you in some way. And I also battle with the knowledge that just because something is published doesn’t make it true or valuable. So how do you know what is worth reading, and what is just a person’s desire to feel important in being among the many who have written a book? It all seems so vain, and yet I continue to greatly value reading always finding more and more books I want to own and eventually read.
And I have no conclusion. I guess this is all random thought, that I decided to write about to waste your time. 
Was it worth reading? Probably not. But for some reason you did, just like I’ll continue reading all the books on my bookshelves…..
