Yesterday, I put the key into the lock and turned the knob, just like I do every Sunday morning. Then I opened the door to my office and experienced a split second of incomprehension. There’s a fraction of a second when you see something extraordinary and strange that the mind doesn’t completely comprehend what the eyes are clearly viewing.
In the first moment, as my mind struggled to make sense of what I was seeing, the site in my office struck me—at the same time—as some type of natural disaster and the work of thieves who must have broken in and ransacked the place. Hundreds of books lay strewn around the entire office space. Chairs had been knocked over. My acoustic guitar lay on the ground—I wasn’t sure at that point if it was damaged in such a way that it would be unplayable. Papers were scattered about. Figurines and other knick knacks from my shelves lay on the floor broken.
It really did look as if a small tornado had somehow entered the space of my office and danced around the room for a minute, or so.
I immediately looked up at the ceiling because there are two skylights in the office and I wondered if one of them had been broken. Burglars? No, apparently not.
But as my brain assessed the nature and patterns of the mess that lay before me, the story of what had happened became quickly apparent. There are five long bookshelves, held by several metal braces which are attached to the wall directly behind my desk. Those bookshelves held a total weight in the hundreds of pounds. In fact, I hadn’t given the weight of all those books a lot of thought—unfortunately—but in light of what happened it has occurred to me that the weight of those hundreds of books was probably well over a thousand pounds.
Those bookshelves were probably installed on that wall back in the mid 1960’s when the church was built. For over 45 years, those bookshelves have been fighting admirably against the laws of gravity. Well, gravity finally won out. The braces which had been screwed into the wall were literally ripped from the points in which they were anchored and the shelves along with everything they contained fell forward in what must have been a fairly spectacular crash.
I stood there with my mouth open looking at the dramatic results of that crash and the gigantic mess it created.
Many of the people who saw the aftermath of the “infamous bookshelf crash” said to me, “Dan, first of all, close your mouth. Second, it’s a good thing you were not sitting at your desk when this happened. You probably would have been very seriously injured.” True.
If you could stand in my office and look at the chaotic scene—as many folks did on Sunday morning—I think you’d agree with that assessment of things. I would have been beaten up pretty badly if I would have been at my desk when the big crash occurred. In fact, several people have said, “Actually, Dan, you might not be here if you would have been sitting at your desk when this occurred. That’s a lot of weight and a lot of stuff to come crashing down on a person.”
Again, if you could see the scene firsthand you would understand how that could be true.
You say, “Are there any lessons that you’ve learned from this unusual experience?”
Yes, there are.
1. I still believe you can’t have too many books. This must be true because it’s mentioned in numerous books. But I do believe you can have too many books on one bookshelf apparatus. (It turns out that that’s a fairly important distinction to be aware of.)
2. Purchase more books on the Kindle (Kindle is an electronic reading device). One 10 ounce Kindle can hold about 1500 books. That’s a much more efficient weight distribution.
3. Even seemingly safe offices can be dangerous places. You never know.
4. Always be ready to meet Jesus. Because life is unpredictable.
5. Always be ready to meet Jesus. Because the most important thing in life is knowing Jesus.
6. Always be ready to meet Jesus. Because your bookshelves might be plotting against you.
I’m ready to meet Jesus, but I thank Him that He protected me yesterday!
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