“Winter is such a good time to read.” This remark was made in a group I was in this past week. And it is true. These cold days that have surrounded most of the country are perfect for curling up with a good book. Whether it is fiction or nonfiction, these days seem to say it is ok to rest and warm up with the diversion of a good book. The fact is that, for me, all seasons are good times for reading but winter has its own joyful rhythm for reading. I have noticed that I have moved from book to book these last weeks without taking a breath in between. And while some of that reading has to do with my work, the majority of it is completely for entertainment. The longer the cold temperatures linger, the more I want to devour books.

A couple of weeks ago I was driving through the Highland Park neighborhood and noticed a large truck ahead of me. It was painted colorfully. It had pulled out of the parking lot that led to several apartment buildings. As I came closer to the truck I saw fanciful characters painted all around the truck. It was a Bookmobile! I had no idea these even still existed especially not in the city. But there it was fresh from delivering books to an apartment complex, or so it seemed. I wondered at why this would be so when a library was just blocks away. Perhaps it was a gift of winter for those who find it more difficult to get out when we are surrounded by snow and ice.

As a child I visited the library weekly if not more often. Summers were spent in the cool, air conditioned space breathing in the smells of musty paper and ink. As a teenager, after school hours were often spent at the long library table in the room filled with reference books. Looking back I think I was ‘playing at college’, anxious to be done with the trials and trivialities of high school and on to what I dreamed would be bigger things. When our sons were younger a weekly visit to the library lasted well through elementary school. And one of my deep joys is to have conversations with our English major son about the most recent book he has read.

We are people bound together by words. From the moment that first word formed from a grunt on the lips of our ancient ancestors, we have been held by these creations of our imagination and necessity. Words help us tell the story of who we are, where we have been, what we hope for, what we fear. Words can help us be understood and also serve to confuse our deepest intentions. Words can hurt or heal. Words can unite or divide. And words can be strung together to create beauty and humor and inspiration and wisdom that bring us life.

On Sunday during worship, one of our dear ones was sharing her experience of how she had been witness to the ‘slow work of God’, our Lenten theme. While sharing she mentioned the scripture verse that had been ‘her confirmation verse.’ This was a foreign concept to me and after worship I asked her about it. Soon someone shared their ‘confirmation verse.’ Apparently it had been, perhaps still is, a practice to assign confirmation students a particular verse from scripture that is ‘theirs’. I imagine a confirmation leader or mentor reflecting on scripture and deciding on the perfect one for each student….words that will travel through life with a person…..as these scripture verses certainly have for those who shared them with me.

I wondered at what words are ‘my confirmation words’……words that have traveled with me, challenged me, buoyed me, held me. What are yours? I have wondered what stories have done the same, stories from both sacred and popular texts, that have served to lift me up and cause me to continue on the path with confidence or fortitude. These words of inspiration need not always be ones from great writers but are often the simple gift of imagination by authors whose only intention was to offer a diversion on a cold, winter’s day or respite in the heat of summer. And yet something in the words they chose to string together has helped us or healed us.

On this day, this frigid time before the world turns its face toward spring, what are the books that have brought you back to life? What are the phrases that you have repeated over and over in the darkest night? What words are your ‘confirmation’ good news?

Whatever the stories, the phrases or the single word, hold them close today. Words matter.