To everything there is a season...and this includes books!
There's a well-known scripture with words summarizing that there is a time for everything. It is also a well-known song from years past. I think most of us would agree that it's true. My focus today is how it also applies to books which may not seem that important but I think it is.
A few years ago Elizabeth Gilbert's book, Eat, Pray, Love was on bestseller lists and it was so well liked that it was made into a movie starring Julia Roberts. I read a synopsis of the book and the reviews. It sounded interesting, so I bought it and started reading it. Arrgh! I read the first few pages and was disappointed. I forced myself to keep going and gave up. I couldn't seem to get through a single page without forcing myself and couldn't see what all the fuss was about. Nevertheless, I left my bookmark in place and set the book aside. I'll try again later.
Later came several months after the first attempt and the "Eat" part of the book was so appealing that I could hardly put it down. I zoomed through it and began wondering what had seemed so blah the first time I picked it up.
I found the answer to that question when I started reading the "Pray" part of the book. Immediately, the book began to drag and I felt like I was swimming upstream with weights on my legs trying to get through each page. I set the book aside...again.
Several months later the process repeated itself. I picked the book up, started reading "Pray," and couldn't put it down.
I'm sure you can predict what happened with the "Love" part of the book. Same song as the first two sections.
After finishing the last section of the book I found myself wondering what the reading process was all about; why had each section seemed so unappealing and then, suddenly, so appealing. I'm convinced it's the "to everything there is a season" syndrome (or whatever terminology would be appropriate here.
There are so many times this happens that it's truly amazing. How many of us have heard scripture readings and church (I'm sure a lot of us know many of them almost by heart), and then one day, for no apparent reason, the reading pierces our heart and soul and there is this feeling of resonance within us and it's as if we have never heard it before. We are touched in a profound way that can leave us feeling amazed, awestruck, humble, etc. We sit through the rest of the service in a daze because we have been so moved by something that was merely a story before. We find ourselves wondering, "What happened?"
When I've read other books besides E,P, and L similar things have happened. I'll pick up a book that sounds good, my best friends have recommended and I just can't get through the book. Months and sometimes years later, I try the book again and wham!, I can't get enough of the book and devour each page because it is so wonderful to read.
Is there such a thing as "time" to read a book and "time" to put a book down or am I imagining it? If a book doesn't hit us the first time, should we forget it altogether or wait and try again? Is there some clue as to how we can know when the right time is? Hmmm...
A few years ago Elizabeth Gilbert's book, Eat, Pray, Love was on bestseller lists and it was so well liked that it was made into a movie starring Julia Roberts. I read a synopsis of the book and the reviews. It sounded interesting, so I bought it and started reading it. Arrgh! I read the first few pages and was disappointed. I forced myself to keep going and gave up. I couldn't seem to get through a single page without forcing myself and couldn't see what all the fuss was about. Nevertheless, I left my bookmark in place and set the book aside. I'll try again later.
Later came several months after the first attempt and the "Eat" part of the book was so appealing that I could hardly put it down. I zoomed through it and began wondering what had seemed so blah the first time I picked it up.
I found the answer to that question when I started reading the "Pray" part of the book. Immediately, the book began to drag and I felt like I was swimming upstream with weights on my legs trying to get through each page. I set the book aside...again.
Several months later the process repeated itself. I picked the book up, started reading "Pray," and couldn't put it down.
I'm sure you can predict what happened with the "Love" part of the book. Same song as the first two sections.
After finishing the last section of the book I found myself wondering what the reading process was all about; why had each section seemed so unappealing and then, suddenly, so appealing. I'm convinced it's the "to everything there is a season" syndrome (or whatever terminology would be appropriate here.
There are so many times this happens that it's truly amazing. How many of us have heard scripture readings and church (I'm sure a lot of us know many of them almost by heart), and then one day, for no apparent reason, the reading pierces our heart and soul and there is this feeling of resonance within us and it's as if we have never heard it before. We are touched in a profound way that can leave us feeling amazed, awestruck, humble, etc. We sit through the rest of the service in a daze because we have been so moved by something that was merely a story before. We find ourselves wondering, "What happened?"
When I've read other books besides E,P, and L similar things have happened. I'll pick up a book that sounds good, my best friends have recommended and I just can't get through the book. Months and sometimes years later, I try the book again and wham!, I can't get enough of the book and devour each page because it is so wonderful to read.
Is there such a thing as "time" to read a book and "time" to put a book down or am I imagining it? If a book doesn't hit us the first time, should we forget it altogether or wait and try again? Is there some clue as to how we can know when the right time is? Hmmm...
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