We're often told not judge a book by its cover, but how often do we apply this logic to others? There are many different variations of books - old, new, short, long, dull, bright, used, unused; the list goes on and on. For every type of book, there's a type of person. It's said that we make a first impression of someone within the first 7 seconds of meeting them. We often scout out a book based on its cover, and how appealing it looks. In this manner, we are always sub-consciously judging people, by the way they look, the way they act and even by the way they dress. Only once we push our judgment aside, can we truly understand the type of person they are and learn their story.
Every person is a book, their life documented in the pages of their memory. Older books look unappealing and boring, but among those pages are stories of great adventure. Some pages might be torn out or missing which resembles the loss of memory, other pages worn or ruined caused by sickness and suffering. But older books have more character to them, a story from a different time, a different reality. Stories that give wisdom and history, maybe not as enjoyable, but offer a chance to revisit the past or even an interesting lesson.
Books with pictures seem more alluring and appealing, much like the people that glamorize their life with pictures they post online. A picture might be worth a thousand words, but when that picture is altered or a modification of the truth that doesn't reflect the words in the book, it's rendered meaningless - much like a wordy essay just trying to reach the word count.
Dusty books left on shelves are the people that feel invisible in life. A beautiful story that's just waiting for someone to take it off the shelf, dust it off, and open it up. Books found in the bottom of piles or used as a support for other books resemble those who feel invisible in society, but without them, society would crumble. They are the people with jobs that we take for granted - garbage collectors, sewage workers, construction workers, workers in retail and the food industry, teachers. This is another list that goes on and on.
Some books are more secure than others, binding a lock resembling people that feel insecure about opening up to people. These people are hard to open up and only once their key is found - facing their insecurities, will they be able to fully open up. All of us have insecurities though, text that we try to cover up with a layer of dust, a line blotted or crossed out. There is always a part of us that we wished we could erase. But what's done is done, our history is written in ink and no matter how much we try to cover it up, it will always remain a part of us. In accepting our insecurities, our story continues and can end on a happy note rather than a sad one.
Once we reach our last page, our story ends. The memory of us lives on in the ones that took the time to read and get to know us. Some books that made great discoveries or advancements to society will be recalled for generations to come much like the great minds in history. Other books that were a great read will be talked about and some made into movies much like the celebrities and great leaders in our time that have fame and recognition. However, what about those books that only have a few readers? They might never be talked about or shared, but they mattered to the people that read them. They made a difference in those people's lives and will affect their stories.
"Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly." - John 7:24
