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| Library of the Dutch Parliament, atlasobscura.com |
What is Heaven like? What is my vision of Heaven? I’ve been
thinking about this recently, due to a comment in Church. The instructor asked
everyone to think about what their idea of heaven was, to visualize it.
Immediately, I thought of a library, huge ceilings, with shelves filled with
books and some scattered odd paraphernalia (superhero stuff, a wand, a sad
Jesus from Lithuania, lightsaber, a gavel, etc.). Of course, the shelves would
have sliding ladders on them and the library’s windows would be massive, with
beautiful stained glass at the top and alcoves built in to nestle with a book,
comfortably, while the sun shines in or the rain pounds and the lightning
strikes.
Perhaps that isn’t Heaven for everyone, but it captures much
of what I hope for. Virginia Woolf seems to share my sentiments, for what
that’s worth.
“When the Day of Judgment dawns and people, great and small,
come marching in to receive their heavenly rewards, the Almighty will gaze upon
the mere bookworms and say to Peter, “Look, these need no reward. We have
nothing to give them. They have loved reading.”
Why is a library my vision for Heaven?
Well, I LOVE books. And reading. So that’s a substantial bit
of the reason. But that seems rather superficial, and my Heaven may as well be
filled with pizza, Converse All Stars, movies, shrimp, and popcorn. Lots of
buttery, salty popcorn. Yet, I thought of a library. I think part of it is that
I still view literature and reading as a more refined interest than film
(although that opinion varies depending on the sorts of films one is interested
in and in no way diminishes my own love and appreciation for film and the value
it serves as an art-form. My perspective is more due to past stereotypes still
ingrained in my subconscious.).
Anyway, some quotes capture some of the feelings that I have
about reading and why I connect it with Heaven and an eternity of peace, joy
and love.
“We read to know that we are not
alone.” – William Nicholson
This is a large part of my
attraction to reading, I think. Perhaps this is because I can more easily
connect with characters in a book than real-life people. In times that I have
felt like no one really understands my experience, I have found solace in
reading, feeling that I am no longer alone.
“A book, too, can be a star, a living
fire to lighten the darkness, leading out into the expanding universe.” —
Madeleine L’Engle
Books and reading represent knowledge and Truth, which as
Jesus taught, will set us free. As I search for what is true, hoping to come
closer to God and know what I need to do to better follow Him and bless the
lives of others, books assist me on that journey. I think that the search for
and understanding of Truth continues far past this mortal world, hence being a
part of Heaven.
“Reading is the sole means by which we
slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another’s skin, another’s voice,
another’s soul.” — Joyce Carol Oates
A part of that search for Truth and losing loneliness is slipping
into the life of another. Books give us the ability to live countless lives
that we would never be able to actually live or may not want to literally live.
It’s fantastic. Basically, reading can be reincarnation, without the worry of
karma. Yet, as Oscar Wilde cautioned,
“It is what you read when you don’t
have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.”
Wilde captures the power of reading.
It transforms us and shapes who we are. May we all read great books and just
maybe, this could be Heaven
for everyone.
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