Providential Reading

As I mentioned in a previous post, for every three new books that I read, I try to read one classic (i.e., “old book”). I don’t hold to this as a fast rule, just a general guideline. But seeing as it had been some time since I’d read one of the classics of English literature (and I had definitely read more than three newbies), I decided to select something from my “books I wish I’d read in college but never had the time” shelf. My choice: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

The copy of Jane Eyre that I own is over fifty years old. There’s nothing special about the edition itself, but it belonged to my mom, a gift on her 23rd birthday from her closest college friend. That makes it special to me. The end paper bears the inscription: “Happy Birthday, Julie! From Lannie, May 1, 1953.” I’m not sure whether Mom ever read the book. Lannie married my dad after mom died, and I know that it was her favorite story. I cherish it in memory of both of them.

With so many novels of the Victorian period, I feel like my eyes get bogged down in words. While Charlotte Bronte spends a lot of words describing things for the reader, not one of them is wasted. She paints with words the way her title character paints with watercolors. More than once her words conjured memories of the places I visited while in England, especially the downs at Dunstable. Friends took us there one evening to watch the sunset, and it’s a scene I’ll never forget.

The other thing I love about Jane Eyre is that Jane is the picture of contentment in the different seasons of life, something I desperately need to learn. So often I feel like I should be doing more, working more, writing more; and then I am reminded that this is a season of life that will all too soon be past. As Jane is teaching young girls in a small country school, a friend asks her, “What will you do with your accomplishments? What, with the largest portion of your mind—sentiments—tastes?” I love Jane's reply:

“Save them till they are wanted. They will keep.”

I want to have that attitude. Sean and I have chosen to homeschool Ben. Preparing and teaching his lessons takes a huge chunk of my life right now. Some days I think of how I could be writing or working or doing any number of things to further my career or for my own enjoyment. Now when I feel that rising discontent I can remind myself that these things will keep until Ben is grown and I enter a new season of life.

As I turned the last page, I asked myself one question: Why have I never read this book before? Perhaps a book patiently waits for when the reader is ready to digest what it has to teach. I know that if I had read Jane Eyre at any other time of my life, it would not have made such an impact. It still would have been a great classic of English literature, but it would not have packed the moral punch in my life. More than ever I’m convinced that God’s hand of providence guides my life, right down to the details of what I read and when.