Library Visits & Childish Thinking

Things I Used To Do Again

This week’s post started as more of an essay and shifted to a poem.
Read the poem below and/or click play above to listen as we read it aloud.

Library Visits and Childish Thinking
©Rebecca Wilson, July 23, 2024

I did a thing I used to do again
I went to the library
in search of the book I checked out as often as I could as a child
it was a wildly insightful adventure

it’s easy to forget sometimes
how long ago it was that I was five
walking to the library
across from the elementary school playground
next door to the bakery
the book shelves as damp as the cookie trays were sweet
both delicious to me

when we were lucky we got to ride the bus downtown to the main library
next to the high school and the planetarium
across the street from the auditorium
where orchestras and ballets played
where I first heard Beethoven’s 9th and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana
and experienced The Nutcracker at Christmas
and wondered if the arts could heal the earth like they did my heart

there was a double drinking fountain
just inside the front door with a wooden stool for kids like me to step on
to reach the button and the water
I always stopped for a sip even when I wasn’t thirsty
a way perhaps to hydrate my curiosity
I used the stool even when I was tall enough to reach it on my own
maybe a way to boost my imagination

the children’s section was just past the check-out counter and to the right
always so filled with light from the wall of wonderous windows
everything just our size
and friendly faced librarians eager to help us find our next read
or to simply listen to our endless questions

I had no problem reading the same book repeatedly
it was strangely comforting
in a young life that was already smothering
where my backpack was heavy with adult sized burdens and parental problems
evils beyond my reading levels and pain higher than my comprehension

I always found what I needed in those picture books and chapter books
nursery rhymes and volumes of poetry

the old book of poems I was looking for today is no longer in circulation
so I circled around the building
just taking it all in
the people
the art
the conversations
the information requests
the children getting their first library cards
the wisdom held
and stacked
floating to the surface
waiting to be embraced like a small collection of verses
written in the voices of Muppets

although printed books are deemed old fashion
there is nothing more refreshing than holding one in your hands
like a treasure or freshly fallen feather
thumbing through and listening to
the words leap off
and up and into my mind
filling my spirit like a fountain of cold water
awakening all my senses

the ancient card catalog a reminder that how we search has changed
but knowledge is the same
waiting to be swallowed and savored
oh, how the powerful are afraid of power
now more than ever

why else would books be banned and libraries closed
why would dictators return to censorship and burning
if not for fear of people, especially children, learning

if every child had a library to hydrate their education
and a stool to boost their imagination
no child would grow up to stay silent about climate injustice
or mass shootings
no child would accept separately unequal conditions
no child would live under drone filled skies or die from hunger in a society of waste
or watch their parents search for siblings buried under genocidal rubble
or settle for the status quo
or feel helpless in the face of escalating violence and chaos
or perpetuate the isms of their ancestors

I’m no longer a child and I’m thinking
that maybe another thing the church has helped the world get wrong
is telling adults to set aside childish ways of thinking

maybe it’s childish ways that will save us
before we destroy ourselves in pursuit of progress
maybe the map to a better world is found in the bent and scribbled pages of
children’s books sitting on little desks painted with bright colors
surrounded by bean bag chairs

maybe we all need a break from constant news
and what we once knew as tweeting
what if we all spent an afternoon in a library
followed by a stop at the bakery
for something sweet
a peanut butter cookie was always my first choice
the cinnamon rolls were really good too
and the day-old bread made the best french toast

---

A few extras waves.

1. Next Wednesday we are wrapping up Things We Used To Do Again and sharing a piece of art we’ve created over these last many weeks. And of course, some words to go along with it.

2. Yesterday, July 23 was the 3 month publication anniversary of Unraveling: Coming Out and Back Together. We shared a gift with all our supporters through the 10 Camels Email List. If you are not yet signed up, click here for a free Unraveling Guide: A Pattern for Coming Together.

3. Our Mid-Atlantic Unraveling Tour is almost here. We will be sharing poetry and preaching at 6 locations in Delaware and Maryland. And before we head out, we are preaching Sunday, July 28th at Court Street United Methodist Church in Flint, Michigan. Visit 10Camels.com for more details.

Water-fully Yours,
Rebecca & 10 Camels