As I grow older, I take an ever-deepening delight in books.   All sorts and genres, fiction and non-fiction, serious and trivial, old favourites and new authors, are welcome additions to the untidy pile on my bedside table.  I have even been known to dip into to the odd theological work from time to time!  Cicero was right: "A room without books is like a body without a soul."  Many predict that the book as a physical object will vanish under the onslaught of technology and the internet.  However, I cannot believe that we will ever give up the joy and comfort of settling down with a good book in preference to switching on the latest piece of electronic wizardry.  There is something unique in the sheer physical touch and feel of a book.

The Book is something treasured and sacred to many (Muslims, Jews and Christians are known as people of the Book).  In the Episcopal liturgy, this ‘specialness’ is underlined by the way that the Bible is treated when being read, especially the Gospels.   I have come to the conclusion that such texts, as is also the case with many secular books, truly are ways to the truth - but only if we have eyes to see.

In most books, the truth is not obvious at first. ‘Real truth’ is a deep-down hidden and precious thing.  It is there to be discovered, but often in unexpected ways.  For example, the biblical scholar Karen Armstrong laments the fact that our modern era does not see the value of myth, unlike many earlier religious leaders who were much more relaxed about the use of story and allegory as a means to the truth. They often shunned literalism, i.e. taking the story at face value - for them, the story as a means to the truth was much more exciting and revealing than a purely logical or intellectual approach. 

Whatever book you are currently reading, there is usually that wonderful moment when you suddenly see what you didn't see at first, when you realise where the story, or the tale, was taking you all the time. You just couldn't see it until the truth was glimpsed.  St Jerome, referring to the sacred texts says "Everything we read shines and glitters even in the outer shell: but the marrow is sweeter. He who wants to eat the kernel must first crack the shell."  I believe that to be true of a great many other books and poems as well.  Go one – pick up a book!  And join a Book Club!  Maybe even ‘the’ Book Club?

Colum