Got Milk… Got Books… Got God?

I ran some quick errands today, which included a stop at Barnes & Noble for this month’s Atlantic. For the first time in my life, I made it out of there in under twenty minutes and under twenty dollars, dramatically demonstrating my iron will. As I stood in line surrounded by books and glancing giddily around, I had a conversation with myself.

It Went Something Like This….
I love B&N! Books, books, books, everywhere! (that I keep buying and never reading.) I literally have to tell myself (out loud—which fellow shoppers oddly cannot appreciate) that I’m not allowed to buy any more books until I read the ones I’ve already bought. Why do I love to buy books, or at least be in bookstores around them? Am I the only one who so adores this place? (Obviously not since I’m patron #4 in a line that’s getting longer by the minute.)

Barnes & Noble = Abercrombie & Fitch
As I surveyed the magazines, day planners, journals, fancy overpriced chocolate, and gift paraphernalia at the checkout counter, I continued to analyze our obsession with megastore booksellers. I wonder if we truly love books and reading that much, or if we just love the status of book-reading, book-shopping, and being grouped with others in that same boat. Have you ever seen a girl date a guy and knew she didn’t really like him, but she really liked liking him? Maybe that’s it. Maybe our culture has turned reading into a trendy status thing?

So What?
I suppose it doesn’t matter. I’m not trying to be a stodgy, old literature purist. Any method that gets people reading or even surrounded by books at least is a good thing.

In Fact
Why not take advantage of this trend, if it is one? We’ve discussed the role of the Apostolic writer a lot on this blog. Anyone who questions the potential of reaching people through writing needs to visit a Barnes & Noble. So many people are buying books, why not have Apostolic representation and add our voice? As I back up and look at the big picture and try to connect the dots, what I’m saying is let’s capitalize on this media obsession trend. If it’s cool to do the bookstore thing, let’s get some (quality) books by Apostolics on the shelves at Barnes & Noble--not just because it's our version of passing out tracts, but because writing matters and we need to be involved in the process.

Others Are Beating Us to It
The Atlantic, which I hope to talk about more later, picks the best of the best to feature in its fiction issue every year. And this year? Three of the six short stories are blatantly (if I can use that word with a positive connotation) religious. The time is now. Let’s capitalize on this trend as Apostolics and write, write, write!

Baby Steps
Your first mission—should you choose to accept it—get your feet wet with a fiction experiment: Ninetyandnine’s Short Story Contest.

Currently Reading: The Atlantic (annual fiction issue with stories by John Updike, etc.)