| Sunny Side Up May 25, 2005 �2005, Kathleen Gibson Welcome to the book club A book club meets weekly in my home, a small gathering of friends and neighbours. Sometimes we're only two. Sometimes five. We draw up wobbly chairs to my old oak dining table, or sometimes choose softer seats in the living room. We sip coffee or tea, eat finger food, and talk. The cat and dog, ever eager for attention, attend too - and distract. "Behave, you two," I commanded last week, "or I'll send you to your rooms." They slunk away to tussle elsewhere, but not before making it abundantly clear that they'd much prefer the company of my friends. Each week, we come prepared to discuss the chapter we've read that week. To the table we bring our books and thoughts. Some come prepared with notes on separate sheets of paper, others have scribbled comments in the book's margins. Things like, "This character reminds me of the time I��" In my own book, in large letters, last week I wrote, 'THIS PART I REALLY LOVE.' If we've learned anything new, we tell it. If we've read something puzzling, enlightening or frustrating, we spill it. We're seldom alone. "I wonder why (or how, or who, or what�.)" we begin often, inevitably followed by, "Yeah, me too. Let's talk about that." We air our wonderings about setting or plot or author or message. Anyone with a better grasp of something offers opinions and explanations. Individually, our solo perspectives are full of gaps; combined we patch together collective wisdom that surprises us all. It's comical sometimes - we seem to take turns passing along insights that have evaded the rest. The result of all that thinking and talking is that our sessions seldom end without an empty coffee pot and a full mind. Something new to ponder. Something to take with us into our reading of the next chapter. I also attend another book club elsewhere. A diverse group of people attend that one, from the well educated to the much lesser so. Frequently we lop down rabbit trails or get tangled in semantics. And we sometimes disagree - even heatedly. "Hmmph. I don't THINK so! I've never heard anything like THAT before!" someone said last evening. Her comical expression sent laughter skipping around the table. We laugh a lot, most evenings, even when we can't agree. Last night, a particularly troubling idea made us all stop and grab an apple from the table's center. We sat, munching and thinking, processing our thoughts and digesting our fruit before we dove in again. I'd invited a friend along last night. Quiet at first, he quickly joined the dialogue as though he'd been a part for us forever. Later, he said, surprised�. "That was, like, WOW! I had no idea what to expect, but not that. I love it that your group doesn't mind tackling the hard stuff." Then he said, "I never expected a Bible study to be so much fun." Did you know that the Book of Books is that fascinating? Sadly, few do. Respond Home |
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