So many books

In the packing process, one thing I find we have in super-abundance is . . .  books.

So many books.  Especially old textbooks.

There is a charity here called Orphan's Treasure Box.  They take book donations, and then they resell the books both online and in a sweet little bookshop.  All their profits go to support orphans.  We have been taking lots of books there.  Used textbooks can be of good value, especially if they are fairly current.

Last night, I was having trouble sleeping, thinking about books. 

Our kids tell us to get rid of their college textbooks.  "I can find whatever I need online," they say.  They never knew a time, like we do, when the internet did not exist.  The instant access to nearly infinite information is normal for them.  Not new, normal.

Last night, I thought about Revelation 18 and wondered if the fall of Babylon is about the fall of the internet.

The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud... (Revelation 18:15)

For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste. And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off and cried out as they saw her burning.  "What city was like the great city?"  And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out, "Alas, alas, for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been laid waste." (Revelation 18:17-19)

If we throw away all the books and trust in the internet to catalogue and store all our information, research and learning, we will be devastated if the internet crashes and all is lost.  The internet is so new, so ethereal.  When I think how many times I've lost a document on my computer, after hours of work, I cannot imagine entrusting this electronic nexus with the wealth of the collective studies of mankind throughout history.  Even if it doesn't crash, it could easily fall into hands that do not share information, but parcel it out to only the highest bidders.  Information could become the currency of the future.

I'm just saying.

I might keep a few more of these old science and math textbooks, if I can keep track of them.  I think we already mistakenly donated at least one box of books we had set aside to save.  Sigh. 

So many books.