Let’s Read Books!

First posted March 3, 2017.

Nothing – absolutely nothing – will ever replace books.

How precious it is to cuddle up with a book (they’re much more sensuous than a computer!). How lovely to turn down pages, mark passages and feel the weight of the book responding back to us as we glean wisdom from its pages. Books are silent companions we can carry in our purses, guardians of wisdom we want to return to again and again, speakers of truth and nonsense that we can return to to see how much we have changed.

They can be much better than husbands to sleep with and certainly less demanding.

Books can be our challengers, our lovers, our companions, our teachers, our comforters and our friends. Reading them can help mature the ways we think and feel and help us to realize the wisdom and spirituality we have available to us at our fingertips.

They are the “real thing” whether they are fantasy or non-fiction.

Reading a book is never a loss.

When I read a great novel, I find myself reading slower and slower as I know it is coming to an end. And then, I grieve the loss of the intimate relationships I have built with the characters. Finishing a book is not a relief. It is a time to grieve. I also find I have this grieving experience at the end of a good non-fiction book. Books are our friends.

Anne Wilson Schaef, Ph.D.