Why should we listen to preachers? What do they know that we don’t, and how do we know that they really know? I don’t like preachers who are full of judgements, condemnations, and threats. In fact, I don’t think they are preaching but riding the rollercoaster of inflated self. And what if we don’t even believe in God? What on Earth is the point of listening to a man talk about something we don’t accept? Preacher Charles Spurgeon seems to offer a genuine and historically relevant selection of ideas and works that help us to understand the mind of the time and perhaps a little of our own ancestral memory.
 
When I wrote Meeting God In The Middle, I really wanted to help non-believers and believers alike meet on the middle ground and appreciate what is going on in a way that suits everyone. Obviously, no-one can truly make everyone happy, and those of us who are fundamental believers will no doubt find many problems in my little book. I’d love you to read it and write about what they are, linking to the original of course. Let’s start a discussion, that’s what it is all about. Nevertheless, the middle ground in the religious sphere is that a genuine phenomenon exists in that people are willing to believe and act in ways that perhaps go against the grain of the world. Understanding why is clearly important, so we can at least communicate with people on levels they understand and are willing to act on.  
 
But if it’s true, if the stories and wisdom handed down by religious texts and ideas around the world are still around because there’s something right about them, we can mostly agree it is in the same way a fable is important. We know that a tortoise and a hare never ran a race, but we tell the story because of the information it contains. If you are lazy, even the slowest can outpace you. Religion is like this whether you believe it is true or not. That’s the point of my book and that’s the point of this article.  
 
The magical world of old-fashioned Christianity taps into a deeper sense of connectivity to nature and the universe that today’s hooray churches seem to ignore. The majesty and mystery of being alive and with a crystal clear conscience that we trip over daily is an experience like no other. Finding ways of exploring this in terms that extend beyond the material but count the internal as part of it is what religion has done to a great extent. Christianity, like Islam, Buddhism and Yogic practices, is about relinquishing the self. To surrender the individual to the will of God, or the natural progression of the universe, is a way of life that billions of people believe is beneficial beyond the immediate. All faiths try to reach out to the divine source of all creation, with a belief that it holds a consciousness which cares about us. 
 
Understanding the working of this consciousness and its relationship to us is what religion is all about. Is this possible? Like looking into a masterpiece by a great artist, we can learn a lot about them from the way they produced the work. Every little detail can tell us about the intention and the motivation, which go on to inform us on the character of theartist themselves. Religion likes to treat creation like a masterpiece and God is the term we use for the artist. The entire universe and everything unimaginable beyond belongs to this grand source.  
 
So, whether you actually believe in it or not, hopefully you can appreciate the validity and importance of religious ideas. When the preacher is not tainted by hate and competitiveness and they reach into the grand mysteries of philosophical thought, we can bypass the need to fully accept in favour of gleaning the good information that stems from a genuine desire to live according to the laws of all creation.  Visit  the Pastor Charles Spurgeon YouTube Channel and enjoy the continuing updates.
 
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Ancient manuscripts are an art form. The most well made and cared for specimens are the ones that have survived since the times when they were popular media. Before printing presses made books and pamphlets commonplace among us, the hand-written and artistically designed one-of-a-kind editions were all we had. Clearly with only the rich able to buy them, many people had to go from word of mouth and memorable story. Is it any wonder that stories with layers of meaning were used to pass information through the generations when books were so difficult to produce?
 
The Getty Museum in California is currently exhibiting a sizable collection of preserved books from pre-printing days. A Passion For Collecting Manuscripts aims to excite and inspire visitors with the wonders of the medieval technique and product. Known for regularly displaying a handful of their vast collection of Middle-Age and Renaissance manuscripts, their specialist curator Elizabeth Morrison worked alongside chief curator Aleia McDaniel to uncover a much more intensive spread of the available work to explore.
 
The museum have been collating information and documenting their collection of around 225 individual manuscripts from between 500 and 1500 AD in order to put the archive online. By verifying the lineage of ownership and the origin of the original works and highlighting the expert curatorship at the museum, Getty hopes to validate their rightful ownership as well as make everything publicly available for everyone. The exhibition coincides with the project and aims to attract everyone with an interest in such marvellous things.
 
By highlighting not only the manuscripts themselves, books written by hand and individually bound by skilled artisans, the process of collecting and preserving these precious items is also brought to our attention. Because of the dedicated work of capable individuals who can afford to acquire and preserve the specimens to institutions and museums who can provide public information along with the objects on display, the manuscripts that still survive are being kept as safe as possible. Perhaps it’s necessary for more people to adopt this hobby, or aspire to one day, if we want to ensure future generations can find out about how our ancestors used to think and communicate.
 
Visit the Getty Museum Manuscripts online

Recommended read: ​Masterpieces of the J. Paul Getty Museum: Illuminated Manuscripts

Via - Fine Books Magazine
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