I love to read.
That's no surprise, I realize. But there are times when I'm reading a book, and I'm transported into another time and place, and I get to live in the skin of characters who I sometimes like and sometimes don't, and I'm reminded how much I love to read.
I learn from the characters. Sometimes, I want to be them. Other times, I'm thanking God I'm not. I envy their adventures. Their dreams. I like their clothes. I don't like their corsets. I love their hair. I don't like that they didn't wash it but maybe three times a year. Ewwwww... And not bathing every day? Don't even get me started.
I love that the world was a simpler place "back then." Not that it was easier, mind you. In many ways, it was far more difficult. But there was a simplicity in no telephones, no texting, no televisions, no 49,874 ways to get in touch with someone. And yet I love my iPhone.
I love punching a single button and speaking with someone across the country. Or the world. And yet one of the most powerful lines I've ever read in fiction is the last sentence from the epilogue in Francine Rivers' As Sure as the Dawn. Don't worry, no spoilers, I promise.
"And though none of them ever saw him again, they knew he was in God's hands––just as each of them was––and they were at peace."
I still get teary eyed when I read that, because the story comes back to me in a flood. All the character struggles, their victories, their losses. Their journeys. And I'm reminded why I love to read.
Why do you love to read?
And I'm not talking about what makes you pick up a book. But rather, what makes you love getting lost in a story? What––when it happens––reminds you that you love to read?
Tammy
