The Wizard of Oz, dog droppings and

[markdohle]

The Wizard of Oz, dog droppings and lots of grass to rub it off
(Books are really mankind’s best friend, along with dogs)

 

I have always loved books.  I remember when I was in the first grade at Good Shepherd in Desoto Mo.  I was a small school with just three class rooms.  The first room was for the first and second grades, the second room, third and fourth grades and the third were fifth through the seventh grades.  My first day at school is still imprinted strongly on my mind, as if it were yesterday.  Yet as my older brother Robert told me, not all memories are true, which I agree with.  However, the first day of school is truly a turning point in anyone’s life.   I won’t go into the first day ‘happenings’, for the day past and I got through it like the little man I was.  I will say that it involved me falling in dog droppings and trying not to draw attention to myself when recess was over, when everyone was asking where the odor came from.  I guess I spent 30 minutes rubbing my backsides in the grass trying to get rid of it…..well it was a failure.  But I will not go into it, on how I wish I could have shrunk to the size of an ant and crawled out of the room, or how relieved I was when no one guessed it was me….except the teacher who kept looking at me and trying to suppress a smile…..I am thankful that she did not point me out…..but I will not go into that either, it would be too boring.

One thing I will say however is on that first day, the second graders were crowded around a bookcase reading the ‘Wizard of Oz’.  I looked over their shoulder and was filled with a deep longing to be able to read the words that went along with the beautiful pictures presented for the young ones to see.  I decided then that I would learn to read as soon as I could and really got into reading the all- time beloved classic,: “See Spot Run.  See Spot get the ball.  See spot bite the mailman.”  Was not great literature, nor was it the ‘Wizard of Oz’, but I was a brave lad and got through it.  By the end of the year, I was reading the Wizard and truly loving the story and especially how it made my imagination come alive.  Though, I really did not apply myself with anything else in school. I think I was rebellious but did not know it, I was just a bad egg with an attitude that I kept to myself. 

My love of books got me through grade school, high school, and when in the Navy reading was a deep source of joy as well as learning and deepening my thirst to understand life, people, and our/my craziness.  The journey is still going on; I am still thirsty, and very thankful that I do love books. 

One of the blessings of getting older is that I now have books that I read over and over again, just for the pleasure of it.  Some have to do with my inner journey and my relationship with God.  Then there are tomes for trying to understand others as well as myself.  Then there are the books that I just love to read.  C.S. Lewis’s syfy trilogy, especially the last one in the series “The Hideous Strength” is a book that I have read so many times that I can open it up on any page and know where I am at.  I just love to read it; it is like an old friend.  The same goes for other works of fiction.  Not always sure why I love some books so much, but I have learned that I can’t figure much out, so I just enjoy them.

Between the covers of a book is a whole universe of thought, wisdom, adventure and stories that can touch my heart just the way music does.  “The Shack’ is one such book that I have come to love and reread, and in the reading, I get some healing at such a depth that I do not understand it at all…..which makes it that much better. 

 

 

Edited February 9, 2017 by markdohle

[Clarakore]

Will you see the motion picture production of the Shack? How does See Spot end? With See Postman Mace Spot And Leave A Nasty Note Of No Delivery Until Spot Is Restrained? Real talk that. 

And a great tribute to reading as the more we learn from the ideas of others the greater the chance we will not step in the proverbial dog do that litters life or at least learn to footsole rub on grass, along curb, puddle dip, grass shuffle and slide, find stick, stand on one foot and pick, repeat any steps.

Then one day we learn to sit calmly to trace deep the grooves and even then the next day some will still be caked but not stink. Some shrug the dry cake and others run to the sink with a now bent hanger, pencil, pen cap, until we find the perfect tool with a few napkins. The olden days was rags or a dirty t shirt now made into a new rag but usually tossed outdoors.

And that is how some seek to neutralize shame when the easy way is told in Mark 10:20.

The possessions include emotional baggage and stubborn tenacity to never improve old ways into new.

There is no place like home under the wing of the eagle and the acceptance of grace as a given when ready to receive.

Sorry Mark that you were not able to ooh the poo until given advice by others. Remaining silent in the crowd when we need help never lasts for every need will be filled by roosting on tree limb, touch of hem, being willing to question those we are not allowed to talk to like the woman at the well, and more but the good prayers are the first, second, until the last step.

For me reading is scaling the sick man on his bed up to the roof tearing it apart and roping the burden down. Luckily Shekinah resides at the headboard of the sick man's bed if unable to finish every book I start.

I was lucky to not even venture onto grass until others did and even then careful steps until another stepped in it and I tuned in to learn by silently observing.

Still weary of taken the flaneur's path or walk through the open doors I can't see.

Edited March 8, 2017 by I hide behind words