A few weeks ago, my friend Judy took me to a small store in Vero Beach called Trafalgar Square. The trip was a belated birthday present and Judy had kept our destination a secret, right up until the moment we pulled into the parking lot.
As soon as I walked in the store, though, I knew where she had brought me. The smell of old books slid along a breeze as I opened the door. And for a moment, that smell brought me back to a childhood of wandering used bookstores and libraries.
Trafalgar Square isn’t a used bookstore. Though it carries antique books, it also carries various odds and ends, both old and new, with a distinctly British flare, from canes to books and games. It is a store where it’s possible to get lost in those childhood memories.
When we walked in, Judy went to the woman behind the desk and immediately asked her to show us the fore-edge books. The woman then led us up a few stairs to a glass cabinet, where she produced a key, unlocked the cabinet and withdrew a very old Bible. I believe she said it was 17th century. It was a marvel in and of itself, in excellent condition.
I wanted to hold it, but I was too afraid to ask and the woman wasn’t done showing the book’s secrets.
She opened the book, grabbed the edge of the pages between her fingers and thumb and fanned the pages out. Instantly a picture emerged.
This Bible was no ordinary Bible (though what Bible is). It was a fore-edge Bible. Someone had painted along the edges of the pages so that when the book was closed the picture was invisible. But when you fanned the pages, the image appeared. And if you didn’t know to look for it, you might never see it.
She showed us other fore-edge books, all in phenomenal condition. She showed a book by Byron and hidden there on the fore-edge was a picture of the author himself.
It was an amazing, hold-your-breath, kind of moment.
This morning, in my children’s talk, I told the kids about the first time Pastor Debbie led me through the woods, late one night, to see the bridge that had been built there among the trees. I told them how it was a special moment because it was dark and I was afraid of the dark and I couldn’t see a thing, but what a wonderful surprise it was to find this beautiful bridge in the midst of the darkness. A bridge, carved in part, from the surrounding trees.
Our lives are filled with revelatory moments, moments when something magical and transformative happens. A book holds a secret painting. Moonlight and flashlight reveal a bridge in the midst of a darkened wood. A space shuttle launches its final mission and the last astronauts of Atlantis see the blue sky give way to the vast expanse of God’s universe.
And I can’t help but think that we should live our lives in a constant search for these moments, moments that surprise us, moments that touch that imagination thread that weaves through our souls.
It is these moments that push us closer to God. In these moments we can almost see Him, even if what we see is only an atom or sliver of who He is. It is still enough to wow us.
