If These Walls Could Talk… (by Bob Turner)

Last updated on: March 12, 2014 at 12:01 am by Scot McKnight

If These Walls Could Talk… (by Bob Turner) 2014-03-11T10:24:51-05:00 Scot McKnight

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Bob Turner

…If These Walls Could Talk…

You probably haven’t heard of Paula Kaufman. She is a leader in her field. She is an American hero. She is a librarian.

I know what you are thinking: sensible shoes, conservative attire, and bad hair. Or, maybe: rule-keeper who hates noise, food, drink, and gum. Once more: passive, timid, introverted, pseudo-academic. Getting colder.

Kaufman was a librarian at Columbia University. In 1987, she received a request from the F.B.I., who was collecting information about perceived terrorist threats. Basically, they wanted to see what the Ahmed’s, Abdul’s, and Mohammed’s of NYC had been reading at their local library.

Obviously, this information was confidential. Kaufman countered that if patrons could not come, read, and learn within a context of privacy, they might not come at all. She resisted the F.B.I. and put her self at risk, in hopes of preserving the freedom of the curious, the interested, and the inquisitive. She won.

In my work as a theological librarian, I don’t get many visits from the F.B.I. Further, I don’t enter work each day to serve on the front lines of a national security conflict. That would be cool, to be sure. But most visitors rarely ask for more than to be pointed to the restrooms. But I do enter the workplace with a sense of gravitas for what goes on around the stacks. This is because good theological libraries play a significant role in the life of the church. Theological libraries aren’t just warehouses of books; they are houses of theological renewal.

This is why my favorite place to sit in our library is the Reference Room. There, the words of Paul jump off the dark, 20 foot-long wall in large, yellow letters: “…but be transformed by the renewing of your minds...” For Paul, the discovery of God’s will requires a change of within the mind. While our culture demands that we act on feelings and be true to ourselves, Paul challenges to act on knowledge and become what God transforms us into.

Renewal is a process. The only people I know who are more obnoxious than those who refuse to change their minds are those who change their minds only once. They swing the same sword, just as hard, only now in a different direction. True change should cultivate our humility, not redirect our outrage.

The digital world affords the opportunity to talk to anyone, anytime, anywhere. Even sentences like that now sound cliché. But when we talk about God, how should we talk about God? Perhaps too often our conversations feature exclamation points (!!!). Of course, this is probably not the best punctuation for talking to strangers. Periods might be a little blunt. Yet question marks trend postmodern. And semicolons, according to Kurt Vonnegut, are only good for showing people you went to college. So what’s left? Ellipses…yes, ellipses…those dots…. These are the punctuation markers that best characterize the theological library. They tell us that a statement has been made, but that the conversation is not over. They are a grammarian’s way of saying To Be Continued. When they come before a statement, we know that it has a past. When they follow it, we anticipate a future.

These dots signal that our conversations are not voices in the wilderness, but parts in a symphony. When we speak about suffering, we not only reference our own experience, but join that of Job, Irenaeus, and Wiesel. When we argue about the atonement, we are not simply engaging John Piper or N.T. Wright, but also Paul and Augustine. Whatever they said is probably not trivial. Whatever we say is probably not new.

But we are.

That is, when we engage in this larger conversation, we participate in God’s renewal of our minds. We trade in our question marks and exclamation points for bold sentences that end in ellipses. Our conversations have a past, so our contributions have a future.

This experience of renewal allows us not only to focus on how we might change, but also on developing the humility to prepare us for the next change. The next one is always the hardest.

So I don’t view myself as a gatekeeper of materials or as an enforcer of policies. Librarians are the architects of houses of renewals. We promote and defend the transformation of the mind. And we invite others into a centuries-old conversation on which we all are invited to eavesdrop. A library is a great place to listen to the ancient witnesses.

And an even better one to hide from the F.B.I.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

March 11, 2014

Who Do You Think Should Review This Book?

Next Post

March 12, 2014 Way Ahead of Schedule

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Acts of the Apostles Adam Advent Anabaptism Angels Anglican Apologetics Atonement Baptism BCP Prayers Bible Biblical Studies Birds Blogging Bloglossary Bonhoeffer Books Calvinism Christianity Church Church History Coffee Colossians Commentary Recs Conversion Creation Creeds Culture Death Ecclesiastes Economics Education Embracing Grace Emergent Emerging Movement Eschatology Essays Ethics Eucharist Evangelicalism Family Fasting Fathers Fellowship of Differents Footsteps Tour Fun and Whimsical Gospel Grace Happiness Heaven Hell Holy Spirit Irenaeus James Jesus Jesus Creed Job Justification Kingdom of God Law Lectures Lent Liberalism Love and Marriage Mabanteneni Manhood Mary Miracles Missio Alliance MissioLife Missional Missional Jesus Movies and Film New Perspective Northern Seminary OneLife Origins Project Orthodox Parables Pastor's Spouse Pastoring and Leading Pastoring and Preaching Patristics Paul Paul-John Tour Pharisees Pietism Political Theology Prayer and Formation Preaching Problems for Faith Psalm 119 Psalms Public Issues Purgatory Religions Resurrection Revelation Romans Rule of JCreed Science and Faith Sermon on the Mount Sports Ten Commandments Theology Third Way Top Ten Lists Translations Uncategorized Universalism University Ministry Way Out Weekly Meanderings Wisdom Women and Ministry Work Worship Writing & Blogging Youth Ministry

Select a Month July 2021 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 0000

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which book comes before Amos in the Old Testament?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Micah Hosea Joel Obadiah