 |
| Friends you haven't met yet |
When you are with a buddy every day, you are less likely to notice any changes in them. But a friend you see only once every few months, or every few years, that is a different story; the first thing to draw your attention is what is different from what you remember. Those changes help us realize how much time has passed, and how we, ourselves, might have changed too over the same time.
But what about our friends that do not change? No, not those people who seem to be unchanging, but rather our friends that are not people.
The past week I have been spending time with my friends that are books. I have been going through my shelves looking at them and deciding which ones to contribute to our upcoming Great Catholic Book Swap. I did not want to have a book sale, or just to donate them to some book dealer in order to find their new home, but rather to have this event so that we can all share our friends with one another and thereby increase the life and reach of the friendship.
There are many that I will hang on to, of course. They are keepers, largely because I need them for reference or at least reminding. Meanwhile, I have found a few books, maybe a boxful, that do not qualify for our Swap, but I plan to give to the local friends of the library shop. They are good books too, but needn’t be shared within the household of the faith.
And there are some books that I have that I will not share, because they are not good books; they are not helpful, or maybe even not truthful, and would not build up the Body of Christ. I may have to find some other path for them.
But the books I have assembled for the Book Swap are good books, truthful books. Some are books I admire, but never really ‘hit it off’ with them. Some are books that I really enjoyed, and even often used, but no longer fit in to my reading and learning. Some are books that are just so good they deserve someone who has never had the experience and will treasure them. And they all, every one of these books, fortify the faith and enhance the understanding.
As I moved through the books, separating them into stacks with different destinations, some I held back because of their sentimental attachment. Some were given me as gifts and I still treasure the giver. Many had inscriptions that marked the date and occasion, some long past. But as I moved deeper into the process, I went back and moved even those books into the stack that I would share through the Swap.
They are friends, after all. What are friends for, but for sharing? Just this last weekend I had two priests to dinner who had not met one another. I was a good evening, and I am convinced that they will happily and fruitfully see one another in future, maybe even often. That was a delight, for me and them.
Passing on a book, a good book that is a good friend, is a way to increase the friendship. Passing on a good book that manifests and reveals the Faith is a way to increase the friendship that we share with Jesus. As I send these books along, I am convinced that they will happily and fruitfully help people see Jesus and be with Jesus in the future, maybe even often.
Consider joining in this sharing of friends and friendship that is our Catholic Book Swap. Nothing rewards the passage of time like making new friends; and nothing satisfies the love of old friends like seeing them newly met, newly appreciated, and newly loved.
Monsignor Smith
