Wednesday, November 12, 2008

death, books, and other things that occur to me as I lean on a microfiche cabinet

Being in the university library always makes me think about being in some kind of cemetery.

These books represent lives.

There are books here that will never be read.

I always feel overwhelmed, especially by the old books that have been abandoned in favor of the nonsense that is so popular here -- like thousands are dying around me and I am powerless to save them.

4 comments:

Jack said...

What about the "empty" books? Do they still represent lives?

Also: is a book written by a Christian more or less of a "remainder" than that person's body, buried in a cemetery (keeping in mind the promise of resurrection)?

Emily said...

Yeah, I think even the "empty" book represent lives. I imagine that the Christian/non-Christian difference would be something along the lines of the works tested by fire that Paul talks about at the beginning of 1 Corinthians. There's doubtless some gold and silver in those books. And there's also hay and stubble that someone spent his life collecting.

Jack said...

So, no distinction between a person's life and their works?

Emily said...

No, not that at all. Of course there's a distinction. But one is an expression of the other, like the fruit off a tree.