Read books by authors who inspire you toward greatness. Start with the Bible and just get reading! Stretch your heart’s capacity for excellence and celebrate the writings of the extraordinary men and women of the faith.
You may not know this, but it’s Library Shelfie Day.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and libraries across the country are wanting us to read more books. And that’s great! I love reading and perhaps like you, I know I’ve garnered a collection of favorite books over the years; I always enjoy loaning out different titles. Some people arrange their books on a shelf so that the spines can be admired; others have a system that almost looks like an art form. Some people have favorite authors or genres of books. As I said, libraries want us to read more, and so today, they are asking you to snap a selfie of your bookshelf and share it with your Facebook or Instagram friends.
Okay, so I took this national libraries thing, you know, I took them up on this idea. And I snapped the bookshelves in my art studio. I could have done a selfie of the shelves above my desk, but I think the books in my art studio have much more character. I’ve posted that photo today – a photo of those bookshelves on my art studio – at joniradio.org. And if you want to get a good idea of what my art studio looks like, all the clutter and the mishmash, shelves absolutely crammed with paintbrushes, bottles and jars on tops of books, banners and more books, half-finished art projects, mannequins standing on top of more books, color wheels, spectrum charts squeezed in between more books, well, I’ll say no more. You can take a look at it all at joniradio.org today. I’m also posting it on my Facebook page to make much of Library Shelfie Day.
Now, I don’t know if you will be able to see the spines of all my art books in the photo, but I’ve got some big, wonderful volumes highlighting the best of Monet, Michelangelo, Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent. I’ve got art books on Dégas, Cézanne, French impressionists like van Gogh, American primitive artists. Oh, and I’ve got lots of American artists – books by John Howard Sanden the famous portrait painter, the calligrapher Timothy Botts, and landscape artist, Tim Chambers, whose works I absolutely love. So, take a look at all this stuff today at joniradio.org.
And when you do, look past the clutter, would you? Take note of the many master artists I’ve collected. It’s no different than classics of other masters I’ve collected, Christian authors like John Owen and Thomas Goodwin, Elisabeth Elliot, Timothy Keller, John Piper, Amy Carmichael. Just as John Singer Sargent and Tim Botts inspire me in art, books written by Carmichael and Elliot, Richard Baxter, Charles Spurgeon, and more, these authors inspire me toward greatness. Time and again you will catch me rereading a book by Piper or Elisabeth Elliot or an old Puritan. My point: spend time with people whose lives exude beauty and excellence, and it will elevate your own heart. It’ll make you a better Christian – or if you are a painter like me, a better artist.
So, friend, read. Start with the Bible and just read. And when you have time, read the works of great Christians. Be inspired, stretch your soul, increase your heart’s capacity for excellence, and celebrate the extraordinary lives of men and women of the faith who have penned some of the most life-changing books of all time. Read their timeless testimonies and insights. And, hey, if you like art, take a look at my bookshelves at joniradio.org. And don’t forget to take a “shelfie” of your own bookshelves and post it to your Facebook page or share it with your Instagram friends, ’cause it’s all about Library Shelfie Day, and I’m with them – read great books and you’ll gain a heart for excellence.
© Joni and Friends