A Cup of Tea and a Book

How can one explain this title and even begin to touch the first spots of it all? A cup of tea and a book? For those of you who are wondering what I mean by this, I hope you will find a bit of reality splashed in with imagination after this post. But for those of you who are already in this beautiful world of serenity, read on.

"Writers are first of all readers-- avid, life-long readers who consume books the way other people do hamburgers or beer. As children we crave the cool silence of libraries and Summer afternoons draped over an armchair, the hours we spend suspended between the real world and the one we hold between our two sweaty hands. We covet the feel of books, their rigid covers and the pages that blow in the breeze. When our eyes scan a book we've just borrowed or bought, we writers feel buoyed with anticipations, hopeful, and content." --- Sharon Oard Warner

This statement was found one day and just had to be posted in my room. Something about writing, something about reading, something about that deep and earthy aroma of a cup of your favourite tea brings back so many memories that you had either forgotten, or ones that have never played apart in your life. My best friend once wrote something about this exact topic, I truly wish I could bring it into words as well as she.

The feel of the page, the smell of the publisher's ink, the slant of the page, the rough cover in your hands blended with the warm clay pressed up against the palm of your hands, the warm steam blurring your eager eyes, the tempting and sleepy aroma of that perfect tea, the box sitting by with that exciting quote pasted on the side, and the feel of the smooth liquid draining down your throat creates a world unexplainable.

With as many parables and examples that Jesus came up with and told to listening crowds I am sure He understands the incredible feel that one possesses as these things pass through our senses. He has given us amazing imaginations and awesome minds, perhaps this Utopian feel is just a glimpse of what we are to look forward to after death as Christians. God gave us our senses, our minds, and our imaginations for a reason, and if we use these means in glorifying His name we should be thankful to Him for allowing us to have this precious time with "A cup of tea and a book!"

A Worm-Hole In A Ship

A man was at work in a ship-yard, in company with other men, in the building of a vessel,. He was preparing one of the planks for the bottom of the ship. "There," said he to his comrades, "is a worm-hole," as he planed off the rough outside of the plank. The workmen examined it, but concluded the hole was so small it could never do any injury. The plank was put in the vessel. Some years afterwards, as that ship was at sea, there came up a violent storm, and the ship sprung a leak. On examining the bottom, it was found that the water had for a long time soaked into a worm-hole, and rotted the wood for some distance around, till now, in the time of trial, when the waves beat furiously against the ship, it had suddenly given way. The men on board made every exertion to get her ashore, but were obliged to abandon her, and she sunk to rise no more. Many a person has been ruined in consequence of a very slight deviation from propriety, which has led on to others of a more serious nature, till, at length, their principles have been corrupted, and in the hour of temptation they have given way, and they have sunk to rise no more! A sad warning to others to watch against the beginnings of evil. It is the "little Foxes," as Solomon says, that "spoil the vines." The old foxes eat the grapes; but the little foxes, running on the tender parts of the vines, as they put forth to bud and blossom, spoil them before the fruit grows. It is thus that the character is corrupted and secretly undermined, by little causes, in early life. When one consents, in a single instance, to step beyond the bounds of propriety, they expose themselves to the most imminent danger of ruin. The following rule, if adhered to, will save you from a multitude of evils, while out of your parents' sight:

"Always conduct as you would if you were under the eye of your Parents, and never forget the one Eye that is always upon you!"

"How to be a Lady," by Harvey Newcomb (ch. 6 "General Behaviour," pg. 68)

The World of Dreams

“You have entered the solemn world,
Of peace and tranquility,
Where the mind races faster than the body.
Where worlds unimaginable
Become reality,
Where creatures unexplainable
Are no longer fable.
The time has come
For these worlds to be unlocked,
And the time is now,
For you who believe.
Let your hands run quickly
Over the keys of time.
Let your eyes soar swiftly,
Over the letters of life.
Read on dear reader,
Read on through the night.
Write on dear writer,
Let your dreams unfold
Before your sight.”

----Briar Frost

The Soft Breeze in Heliopolis

"The soft breeze whispered across the water and up into the face of the young girl sitting by the brink of the Nile. Annoying honking echoed across the water and the flapping of wings was heard as the Meidum geese had been abruptly disturbed and rapidly took to flight. Mara’s eyes were intent upon the whirling of the water and the bright chuckles that laughed at her from the slapping of liquid against liquid. Shimmering sparks of sunlight darted here and there until they found their perfect spot to rest, either on the rippling water, or the swaying reeds. Mara sat contentedly near the quiet gurgling of the water, watching each insect make his way to his own unknown destination, or to sigh deeply within as the swaying of the flags and reeds tipped in the wind. A long strand of dark hair caught in the wind and was cast frivolously into the girl’s face. Mara slowly brushed it aside as if she hadn’t a care in the world, but deep within something great was booming inside her, ready to burst forth into tears and sobs."

From the book "Bondage," by Anna Michael (ch. 5, pg. 30)

What made this paragraph so enrapturing to write was that Mara's thoughts blended in with mine at the time. This young girl could find no words to describe the "sigh" that echoed in her heart at the breeze and the peaceful life on the water's of the Nile. She was so content, yet there was something tugging at her heart, allowing the reader to empathize with her feelings. It is incredible how God can place a thousand (or what seems to be a thousand) feelings in ones heart all at the same time, and only a few of those thoughts and feelings could ever be expressed outwardly. I thank my Creator for placing these beloved senses into our body, even when these feelings are so overwhelming that I practically cringe.