It was my first year of seminary and my first or second week of classes. When I walked into school that day I had no clue what had taken place while I was driving in. I settled down in my seat only to learn the shocking news of a plane deliberately flying into one of the World Trade Towers. The professor told us we'd all be meeting in the Chapel for prayer. "This has to be a test to see how spiritual we are. Who will get there first or who will respond with a strong sense of leadership." Instead, we were greeted with another shocking image as we made our way through the lobby- a large screen tv replaying the visual of the second plane flying in to the second tower. This was no test! The school was closed down for the remainder of the day and I drove back home. The first thing I did was call my younger son who attending Adelphi University on Long Island at the time. He was ok and removed from the chaos taking place in NYC. After that I took one of my reading assignments- The Life God Blesses- out on to the patio and began reading in the soothing September sunshine.
The book spoke about having an anchor in the storms of life- not one based on man-made ideas of what gives stability, but the anchor of God's Truth as written in the Bible. It made an indelible impact on me- not only because of the timing of the assignment, but because it underscored something I already knew to be true in my own life. God's blessings are not based on superficial circumstances, they are based on something much deeper and far more meaningful. To this day it remains a favorite book next to the Bible of course!
The book underneath is the study Bible I used during my studies. It's filled with all kinds of notes and references from my studies. The binding is broken and many pages are loose so I cannot use it that often. I have been trying to find a book-binder to get it fixed, but no such "luck" so far. I miss using it but don't want to damage it any further.
So there you- my favorite books and the story behind them.
Thank you Harry, Dorothy, Diana, Gloria, Kate, Marilyn, Kathy, Brian and Marj!