What I Remember

It seems I'm supposed to write about books I've already read. I learned this just a little while ago. I can't go to the bookstore without wanting to purchase something. Simply browsing is difficult for me. Today I went because I'm running out of journal pages and I need to buy a replacement. So, I had to browse. First, there were the books openly on display. There were classic novels, autobiographies, and book collections. I'm always telling myself one day I need to sit down and read Moby Dick, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Hamlet, Wuthering Heights, or some other classic it seems everyone else has read.

Then it was the self-help books about being mindful and enjoying life. That's something occupying my thoughts lately. Finally, I figured a Christian devotional would suit my needs---if I could find the right one. I looked and searched and hunted for the book that was on the shelf somewhere waiting for me to find it. If I had the right book, I'd be set.

I located many books that were close, but not quite right. I kept looking and questioning, trying to decide which book was the one. I finally found an old friend, Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. I'm not sure why it was in the Christian section, since it's more an inspirational or philosophical book, but there it was. I owned this book decades ago and read it regularly. Obviously this was my choice. Yet, as I drew closer to where my husband waited for me, my steps slowed. I felt God telling me not to purchase it. Okay, was this my imagination? So, I decided if I went back to the shelves, God would lead me to the book I needed. Standing at the shelves, looking up and down, left and right, the message He was giving me became clear. I wasn't to purchase a book, but to consider what I took away from my earlier reading of books like Gift from the Sea.

The books that left a lasting idea with me are the ones I need to reflect upon. What books do I recall things from? I still remember ideas from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Illusions, The Bridge Across Forever, and all my other Richard Bach books provide food for thought as well. Joshua by Joseph Girzone and The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery are on the list, too.

I need to consider what I got out of these books so long ago. I remember bits and pieces, and I need to sort out why those things remained with me. What I found meaningful then still affects me now. So, in order to truly help myself and be mindful of life, I need to review my thinking then and now. I see a lot of work ahead. Maybe I should have bought the book instead.