Many years ago in high school, we were handed a List Of Good Literature, or Great Books, that we were expected to read, in order to be prepared for English classes, and life. In my resistance, I never really understood why the books on The List were ‘better’ or more ‘fulfilling’ or somehow more ‘useful’ for us than popular novels or science fiction.

I like to sew and make things. And while my eyes and hands are busy pushing needle and thread through cloth, I like to keep my ears and my mind busy as well. I listen to SAT tapes, podcasts, the radio, but mostly detective and spy novels.

Some months ago, a friend asked me to participate with him in an experimental program he is developing, called Sacred Conversation. The conversations have centered around, of all things, writings and ideas from Great Books. Together we read and discuss philosophy, history, and the works of noted figures, such as Plato, Socrates, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Thoreau.

These readings and discussions have opened my eyes and my heart to the true nature of Great Books – how Humans have developed ideas about how we live together in cities and states, the development of laws, morality, justice, and the ways in which we care for each other and our lands. The conversations have also enriched my sense of God’s wide dispensation of wisdom across centuries, cultures and geographic locations. Find it where you may!

Recently, I turned to my city’s vast library of online audio books, and searched out a few of the authors I recalled from The List. And I came upon James Baldwin, an American writer whose work I had never explored. And this is what I found:

“The longer I live, the more deeply I learn that love – whether we call it friendship or family or romance – is the work of mirroring each other’s light. Gentle work. Steadfast work. Life-saving work in those moments when shame and sorrow occlude our own light from view, but there is still a clear-eyed loving person to beam it back. In our best moments, we are that person for another.”
– James Baldwin, Nothing Personal

I’m not saying that I’ll never listen to anything but Great Books ever again. However, the potential for riches and the depth of ideas that may be available in them certainly has my attention. In my opinion, Mr. Baldwin’s clarity regarding the useful purpose of loving (such as a ministry of service) completely concurs with the Traveler’s Teachings. And I am All In.

Penelope Bright, February, 2025