Reading two of my all-time fave books...
The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas and Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace.
How detailed the descriptions are...I'm almost certain that when I read these books as a young person, I skipped all of the pictorial descriptions, life sketches and daily representative schedules and just got the story. Now am finding a sense of peacefulness and deep enjoyment as I read the descriptions word by word. The images and pictures these words are conjuring up in my mind's eye are so beautiful...and I think, 'how could I have missed these?' The thing is, these words that paint these pictures actually take you back to the the times in which the story is set. Not only do you see the land as it was, but the people as they were - how they dressed, what they ate, how they thought, what they believed in...in short, how they lived their lives...you share their joys, sorrows, hopes, and actually feel as if you are living with them - you feel so much with them.
These feelings are actually making me do a whole lot of re-thinking on a lot of things. They are bringing many of my old ways, old thoughts, old beliefs into relief and pointing out what needs changing, or what needs refining... Once again, I'm realizing how blessed life is to give us chances to refine our lives...just have to see them and take them.