Dear Friends,
Independent bookstores are becoming a rare breed. So I try as much as possible to avoid Amazon and frequent the one in my neighborhood. This little shop seems to have a nice assortment of adult and children’s books. And if they don’t have the book you’re looking for, they will order it and have it waiting for you in usually a week or less.
I went by yesterday to pick up Travels with Herodotus, a book I recommended to a Northwest member and then ordered because I was unable to locate my copy. Written by Ryszard Kapuscinski, it tells a story of his early days as a journalist in the 1950s as he traveled the globe reporting while also reading Herodotus’s The Histories.
When I initially read this book, I was drawn into the fascinating parallel journeys of a 20th century journalist and a 5th century BCE historiographer. Like Herodotus, Kapuscinski’s journey to new countries awakens him to the peculiar habits and details of vastly different cultures. Both bring an insatiable curiosity and a keen eye for details to their travels. They are on parallel journeys, separated only by thousands of years.
In this holy month as we await the coming of Christmas, I’m reminded that we, too, are on parallel journeys . . . journeys that parallel those taken by persons of faith for thousands of years. What we observe and experience along the way may seem peculiar to us: a child is born in a stable and it opens up the world to the promise of radical love and a new relationship with the holy.
Like our modern and ancient travelers, may we each bring to this holiday and holy day an insatiable curiosity and keen eye for details. And, may we be open to being changed as we celebrate the gifts of hope and love and give them where we can.
Yours,
Terry