麻豆约拍

From Rev Ruth Scott, Anglican Vicar in Richmond:

The words 鈥榃orld Book Day鈥� strike panic in my heart! When my kids were young I usually didn鈥檛 realise that day was happening until the night before when they expected me to rustle up amazing costumes of their favourite characters for them to wear to school the next day. Aaaah! Well I may not be handy with a needle, but I love reading. As a child Tolkein鈥檚 The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings ranked among my favourite books. The opening lines of one of the songs Bilbo Baggins sings on his various journeys have remained something of a mantra for me. 鈥淭he Road goes ever on and on/ Down from the door where it began./ Now far ahead the Road has gone,/ And I must follow, if I can鈥︹�� Bilbo lives a deeply contented life until the wizard Gandalf forces him out onto the road to all kinds of adventures. Through these he learns what of his home life in the Shire has real and lasting value, and which of his long held beliefs simply don鈥檛 hold up in new situations. I鈥檝e also found the only way to check out the veracity of what I hold to be true is to leave my comfort zone, my home space, and venture into the stories of other places and people whose experience and understanding differ greatly from my own. This road I鈥檝e chosen to follow has confronted me with my prejudices, stupidity and limitations, as well as confirming the centrality of key values like love, and the need always for a questioning mind and open heart. I鈥檝e had to relinquish the dogmatic certainties of youth, recognising them to be motivated more by a need for security than a desire for truth. Like Bilbo there鈥檚 been more than one occasion when I鈥檝e longed to return to my lost state of innocence - or is that ignorance - but I can鈥檛 go back. I can鈥檛 unlearn what I鈥檝e discovered. And I wouldn鈥檛 want to. However difficult it sometimes is, life lived to the full is fantastic. Whether it鈥檚 actual physical travelling or simply setting out on the road that reading books opens up, the world invites us to a pilgrim life of discovery, challenge, and an ever-changing understanding of what it means to be human. Bring it on!