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Wednesday, 11 September 2024

Tangible Friend

 

I can stand it no longer – the frayed lining on the bathroom curtain. It’s way past time to make new ones. But with so many shops now gone from our local ‘high street’, I’ve got to do it all online. Get the fabric samples. They never look the same as they did on screen. After four attempts, I’ve finally chosen one.

Now to calculate how much fabric I need! I’ve done the online calculator. It seems straightforward enough, but I know that once they cut the fabric, it is mine, right or wrong. I hesitate, and then look for the yellowing, creased, well-used instructions on how to make curtains, from the old DIY book on how to do practically anything in the home. It’s so old I need to rework things from Imperial to metric, but I am relieved when I find it.

Holding the physical page of instructions in my hands, I sense my confidence rise. I will always be old school, preferring something I can hold to what I read on an electronic screen.

That’s probably why I never see myself reading the Bible in digital format. There is something more solid and real about a printed version. Something more beautiful in a bound book, than a device of any kind.

Doing life is a lot more complicated and important than making a new bathroom curtain. I want to linger in God’s instructions for life, maybe thumbing back or forward to where I made a wee note years ago, maybe comparing different versions.

It is just possible I might be able to de-clutter the bookshelves one day, giving away the books which I’ve enjoyed through the years. But I hope I never have to give up my Bibles, a real touch-stone with the divine Spirit of grace, source of comfort and encouragement, correction and inspiration.

 

 

 

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