A few months ago I came down with a very serious illness. This illness kept me from working and required me to lay around on the couch for long periods of time. I began to read a lot while I was lounging about. I would love reading books everyday and having the time available to actually sit and read. After I was healed up I vowed to continue reading, I however didn't realize just how busy my life was and how difficult it was to find the time to start a book not even mention finish one. Months have gone by and I probably haven't opened up a book, with the exception of scientific literature since I was sick. I decided this week to finish a book that I had started while I was sick entitled "On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness" by Andrew Peterson. In this work Mr. Peterson paints the story of Janner Igilby, a young man longing for adventure and surrounded by difficult situations. Mr. Peterson uses his imagination in this work in an amazing fashion and constantly finds new and at times hilarious ways to enthrall me with this book. Over the last twenty-four hours I have been unable to set this book down.
Books like On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness and so many others are the reasons why I love literature and Art. Not only do books and art cause me to escape from my hellish week but they also allow me to look into my creative self. I thoroughly enjoy how, when reading fiction, the reader can make the characters look however they want to. The author does their part in describing the basic traits of each individual in the story but it's still the reader who connects with each person in the book on an indescribable level. I believe the one thing that is missing from my generation and the generations after me is that people have forgotten how to dream. Kids now want to play video games and watch television, allowing something or someone to paint pictures of how things are suppose to look. I'm sure we've all heard the phrase "That movie wasn't as good as the book." Well, of course not, how can it be. A book is so personal, it connects with us in ways that movies never can. This all ties in beautifully with faith and Christianity.
We all have our own versions of how we visualize God. Some say he has a big beard and a white robe, others view him as a meek figure that never smiles. In any case, God is so much more personal than anything we can ever understand. This is also why I believe we can read the same scripture over and over again and it can mean something completely different to us years down the road, because it's personal. Reading, faith and art are to me an injection of passion into the human spirit.
Literature and Art may be one of the few ways of escaping into a creative world so far from ourselves but more personal than anything we've ever known. Now, go read a book!
