Is the land of literature changing as rapidly as some say or are there just more avenues to travel down it?
Certainly, there have been many changes. No longer are we limited to books printed on paper that can be placed on a library shelf (although that is still my preference). All sorts of digital resources are also now available and as I travel frequently, I am a big fan of my e-reader.
The possibility that literature would totally disappear never occurred to me so on 9/13/2014, I was interested to read “2114: A Library Project” in the International New York Times.
This is an excerpt of the article:
The hope that creative work survives its creator is usually empty. Shakespeare boasted that his sonnets would outlast monuments and the memory of princes, and they have. But it’s rare for an artist to keep audiences interested over generations. … Even the list of Nobel laureates in literature is filled with now-unfamiliar names.
Yet a Scottish artist, Katie Paterson, has found a clever way around this humbling problem. “A forest has been planted in Norway,” Ms. Paterson explains on the Future Library site, “which will supply paper for a special anthology of books to be printed in one hundred years’ time. Between now and then, one writer every year will contribute a text, with the writings held in trust, unpublished, until 2114.”
…Ms. Paterson has already chosen a time capsule for this unusual experiment: The Deichmanske public library in Oslo. And she already has her first contributor: the Canadian author Margaret Atwood, who is known for her speculative fiction.
… The project coordinators seem to have thought of everything, going so far as to equip the Deichmanske library with a printing press. If humanity loses the ability to print books, that’s covered. Of course, if humanity should lose the ability to read, that’s another story.
The author of this article poses the possibility that humanity could lose the ability to print books or even to read at all.
Reproduction of Gutenberg-era Press on display at Printing History Museum in Lyon, France.
The Gutenberg Bible was the first mass produced printed work.
I believe there is no such possibility. Although many have tried unsuccessfully to destroy it, one book will last forever.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever (Isaiah 40:8). Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away (Matthew 24:35).
My dad and I were very close. He called me his “blessing in the Lord.” His mother, in days when divorces were rare, divorced her alcoholic husband and raised four children on her own teaching each one of them to love the Lord. His older brother took his position in the family seriously and looked after every member of the family. He taught his sons to do the same.
Although dead, they still speak to me.
w healthy plants.
fornia, the soil was very rich. When I wanted to transplant geraniums from the back yard to the front yard, a friend told me, “Just pull it up and put it where you want it. Don’t even worry about getting the roots. It will grow.” She was right. It did grow. That would never work where I live in Texas. The soil is not the same.
“But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces; some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (Matthew 13: 23).
For instance, I love to cook breads. Sourdough biscuits are my favorite. I take great care to always have the right (perfect) ingredients on hand so that I may cook them at any time. When I am ready to fix these biscuits, I put together a combination of flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, oil and sourdough starter in a bowl. Those are the perfect ingredients. I didn’t make those ingredients. I just use them.
n human flesh. With His death and resurrection, He conquered all human frailties and no longer needs sleep. One day neither will I.
t was constructed on sand, fell. Jesus said, “Great was its fall.”
I consider Americans (and many other nationalities) fortunate when it comes to birthday celebrations. Others plan the party and can even make it a surprise. The person celebrating the birthday often doesn’t have to do a thing but enjoy family, friends, favorite foods and open their special gifts. They don’t have to do anything or spend anything to enjoy that special day.
One Focus Ministries 