Something that is better than you think it might be? Or comes in a boring package?
Brown cover. No fly cover.
Nothing really to draw your eye to it.
It has definitely seen better days.
I have to admit... I almost tossed it in the for sale bin... but something, God perhaps, caused me to say.. why don't we read it first?
My son and I found it interesting how thick the paper was. We would often have to double-check that we weren't turning more than one page because that's how it felt.
Reading this book gave us a good feel for how life was at the time.
How tough it was to be one of the poor people, and not part of the elite.
Before reading this book I knew that Bunyan spent a good deal of time in prison, I wasn't aware that a good portion of it was without justification... judges who didn't like Bunyan refusing to give him a writ of release.
Such an abuse of power.
But God used it to bring about good things. Without his time of despair in prison, would Bunyan have had time to think about the story of the Pilgrim's Progress? He would have been so busy pastoring his people. His time in solitude and confinement gave him time to experience despondency and realize more deeply his need for the Lord.
When we finished reading this book my lad said "I liked the book mom". I know that he was involved in it as he often asked questions "Why could they do that mom? Why didn't they make a rule that you had to let people out of jail when their time was up? Why could rich people do things like that? MOM! They destroyed his stuff just because he wanted to go to a different church.. that's not fair!!!" He was not happy with how the rule of the land was in those days.
What a great way to teach history and how much has changed, while yet so much stays the same eh?
So one unassuming book... became a book we are glad we read. :)