There is a place in every city, town or village that was the “center” of knowledge, the place to fly above the daily grind. It gave you the ticket to countries one could never visit in a lifetime, meet people who are an inspiration to many, and actually learn the history of your country, your family, or events that happened before you were born.
Today, the chair is empty, the light is dimmed, and the door doesn’t need oil because it doesn’t open and close as much as in the past. The floors are gleaming, the tables are just beginning to show signs of “dust” but the “silence” says it all. Right there on a side table is a display of civilization, a tool that has led many to the most difficult decisions of their lives and, in many cases, eased anger, hostility and violence because it told the truth, presented the facts and did nothing. all in silence, 24 hours a day and sometimes even in the dark hours of the night. This fabulous tool of humanity was the simple but powerful “book”. The shelves are all lined up and the jackets are straight, but the buzz of minds and imaginations turning and discovering is nowhere to be found. Your miracle lies in wait for those who just don’t come, the little ones who touched the pages and, believe me, imagined where the pages gently led them. While there were facts and figures, there was also “make-believe,” a land of imagination, peace, and delight. The children became airplane pilots, train drivers, graceful ballet dancers, nurses who healed the small pains of life.
When you woke up during the night with a bad dream, there was a partner on your nightstand. You could turn on the light and salvage frayed nerves by leafing through a story you may have read a thousand times, but tonight it would be a beacon of safety and make it possible to dream again. On a cold winter’s night, a book on a table near the fire was heaven with a cup of cocoa. It allowed you to delve into a Sherlock Holmes mystery, as you snuggle under a warm tartan blanket and listen to the hiss and snap of a living fire. It may even have lulled you into peaceful repose, as your mind wandered with visions, dreams, knowledge, and adventure. This book contained the key to unlock the vault of learning about life, and why we do and what we believe. He gave you the chance to remake history your way, but still he gave you a safe path to keep moving forward, with the railings of the ancient, the ancient, and the fictional guarding your steps lest you fail in the land of hope, love. , and successful.
Today we have handheld devices, with bright lights and chimes. You’ll never be offline as your cell phone, iPhone, or handheld will find the answers for you, spread the news, and even remind you of your schedule for the day and when to walk, sleep, or run. With all of this, your mind is strangely calm and becomes heavy with its own weight as you ignore its tremendous powers and potentials. Your “device” doesn’t even let you waste a single minisecond without making sure you have twenty opinions, directives, and features, but only one thing is missing: your input of who you are and what you want. The machine now pushes the realm of wonder aside and directs you to other “apps” that contain even more responses that aren’t really yours, but are intended to influence, manage, and change you as a person. While adults with all their responsibilities feel they need “instant” answers, even they miss out on a small part of being human: researching, checking things at their own pace and what their inner mind tells them. Young people need to harness their God-given talents to reach worlds they may never have heard of, but found in their own time, in their own way, and with a tool that could help them do it again if they wanted to. leave it for a while, and know that when your thirst for this subject arises again, you can continue through the jungle of life but you would be a leader, the director and the ghost of the past, present and future.
The next time you look at a book, take a moment to flip through the pages, stop to rest on a certain page, and take time to relax, enjoy, and be yourself. Put your device on hold, because most of the games, information and comments are not yours, they belong to those who hope to influence, admonish or alter not only you but also what you believe. Your little device does not want you to grow in vision, but rather to follow its directives. He wants to circumvent your creativity and your special gifts of imagination and lead you down the path that leads to the conclusion he finds right for you. Just go back to being human, back to being young at heart, back to pretending to be a lion tamer, and going back to forging your own paths, coloring your own landscape, and building on what is such a wonderful part of you: your brain and what it is. can achieve with you in charge.
© Arleen Schindler