Our family has always been big fans of libraries. We have had relations with multiple libraries that accomplish different functions: we have our pick-up library that is close to home, where we send and receive books very frequently. Then we have our cultural connection, the library where we go principly for events like concerts and book groups. Then there are the libraries which are so homely and welcoming that they act like a home away from home. I gather this morning in a library like this.

Concord Free Public Library in historic Concord, MA, provides a place to rest in the morning while my children all participate in a nearby theatre camp. Besides books, there are ample spaces to study and meet, and the overstuffed chairs provide a place to even doze a little and rest one’s weary bones.

Today I check out a local author and read Thoreau’s Walden Pond. His emphasis on simplicity and looking for life that is truly real and not mere opinion is more contemporary now than when he wrote it almost two centuries ago.

His words make me grateful for such a place to pause and remember the deeper meaning of our lives. Glory to God for the freedom to live deliberately.