My best friend, the book, pushes me to do more and experience more. It makes me harness my energy to start expanding my dreams. It gives me the power not to accept a life of mediocrity, when there is such infinite potential within me.
My friend, the book, warns me that the fortress of my mind dares to trap me into my own greatness.
No wonder when I walk along the street and notice books that were thrown away or, worse, torn into pieces, I get emotionally disturbed and confused. It shows the cultural level of our islands. Books should never be thrown away, even if they are not wanted any more.
It is not my fault that I love books. I love books so much I always warn my friends not to leave me alone inside a bookshop.
Tahereh Mafi wrote: “I love walking into a library or a bookstore. It is like all my friends are sitting on shelves, waving their pages at me. If a book is new, it smells great but if the book is old, it smells better.”
In fact, I like reading old books because I would prefer to learn from those who built civilisation rather than from those who tore it apart, like what is happening in our islands.
I consider authors as ‘thinking artists’, ‘social critics’ and ‘writing tongues’. When we read, we do not fall in love with the characters’ appearance, we fall in love with their words, their thoughts, their hearts and their souls.
The odd thing about people who love books is that they always want more. It is probably because, as Madeleine Albright wrote, “libraries are fun, educational and the biggest bargain on the face of our world”.
A book can also be a star, a living fire to illuminate the darkness that leads to the expanding universe. You know you have read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little sad, like you have lost a friend.
A society that loses its grip on its past and its history is in great danger because it produces people who know nothing but the present. Libraries, archives, documents and books keep us aware that life had been, and could be, different from what it is now.
Jorge Luis Borges wrote: “I have imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.”
If you become a good reader of books, then you are also a thinker, an observer, a living soul who wants more of your human experience.
Sadly, rather than books, it is technology, social media, fashion, fun, pleasure and the desire of worldly material things that take too much time of many of today’s young people. This, sometimes, draws their attention away from a healthy relationship, especially with God, but not only.
Books should never be thrown away- Fr Charles Cini
These lines by an unknown author deeply impressed me: “I am a book junkie, a reading addict, fascinated by a combination of words, captivated by literary characters and made-up universes. I scribble book quotes on my notebooks and many of these become my life mantras. I usually go to the café with a book and I gobble at its beauty.”
Let us read good books. Leave aside pornography. People, today, are addicted to money and sex. You may hope money will guarantee your independence – which you will never have – but the only real security in life that man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience and ability.
Let people judge your love for books. Let them misunderstand you. Let them gossip about you. Their opinion of your love of books is not your problem. Just remain kind, committed to love and be free in your authenticity.
Book collecting is an obsession, an occupation, an addiction, a fascination, fate even. It is not a hobby. It is books that are the key to the wide world; if you cannot do anything else, read all you can.
An Italian lady organised a library at home to help lonely people who need love and attention. Although her neighbours caused problems for her at first, she was courageous enough to keep pushing, starting again.
Garbage collectors in Ankara, Turkey were noticing an increasing number of books being thrown away. Rather than letting them end up in the landfills, they began rescuing the books. Initially, they shared the books with colleagues and families. As the collection grew, they decided to set up a public library in an abandoned brick factory in the Çankaya district. The library has been a great success, promoting literacy and the joy of reading.
One of the most valuable books is the Bible, not only for believers but also for those who are in search of God’s word. In the Bible, what you read is God’s message, at any time, an experience. As a student at the Salesian university, in Rome, when we were out blessing houses during Easter I used to leave a copy in every house. I was surprised by the impact this made on those who received it. Do you have a Bible at home?
Regretfully, Malta and Gozo are facing a cultural crisis.
Fr Charles Cini is a member of the Salesians of Don Bosco.