It’s Not About The Book

It’s Not about the Book

An inveterate people watcher, I was delighted with the opportunity to attend a national publishing conference and observe writers interact with their world apart from the printed page. Some authors engaged the persons seeking their signature; others barely acknowledged their presence.

One ninety-year-old teacher/writer/theologian/author arrived alone a mere five minutes late for his signing, apologizing in a soft voice to the line of folks already snaking around the signing booth. “I’m a little slow,” he said in a barely British accent. “So sorry.” Then he removed the lid from his pen, smiled at the first person in line, and reached inside his tweed jacket for a decidedly untrendy pair of glasses. “I’m torn,” he said to her. “If I put these on, my handwriting will look nicer, but I won’t see your face as well.” Then he began to inscribe her name in the book with much greater care than he wrote his own.

I witnessed another author sign half a dozen books before giving the first one away. He simply signed one book and pushed it down to the end of the desk, leaving it there to be retrieved while he efficiently signed the next. He seemed confident he had mastered a system for dealing with his public. It was all about the book for him, but for the people in line, it was about the moment.

A day earlier, I’d heard Eugene Peterson speak on the subject “What Are Writers Good For?” His conclusion was that writers are good for tending to things using revelatory language. Their calling is to a slow process not unlike gardening, he said, or spreading manure. “Manure is not a quick fix,” he said, “but it’s the stuff of resurrection, and God is not in a hurry.”

If you’re a God follower, hear this: it’s not about what you do or what you work with. It’s about the everyday moments in which you can embody Christ, bringing him into each human interaction with grace. Are you an accountant? It’s not about the spreadsheet. A carpenter? It’s not about the cabinet. A musician? It’s not about the song. Today will offer a moment in which you can be present to another soul. In which you can incarnate the Word made flesh. It’s not about the book.

He must become greater; I must become less.

John 3:30, NIV