It was the most exciting gift I can remember. It arrived in a small, beige cardboard box in 1951. I pried the flap open & slid the book out to reveal the hidden cover slowly. What would the title be?
The yellow Landmark label emerged along with the magic words: "The Pony….Express."
I jumped on my bed, propped my head on my hand & stared at the cover. A daring rider, saddlebags full of mail, guns blazing, galloped towards me.
This was sure to be a life-changing adventure. It was.
Every month after that another thrilling biography appeared: Lee & Grant at Appomattox, Clara Barton, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Commodore Perry & the Opening of Japan, Santa Fe Trail.
As each book spilled into my life they changed it. Every one sent a message of hope – the chance to live a meaningful life like the heroes on the cover.
From earliest childhood books also built relationships – leaning against my mother as she read Billy Goats Gruff, Snip Snap & Snurr & The Red Shoes – feeling the weight of my father's body as he lay next to me in bed, his deep voice telling tales he created.
It is stories that alter our lives. That is as true today as it was when you were a child. Which ones have shaped your life?
In the later chapters of my own book I remember the joy of my earliest – the times when I dreamed of the man I might become & how I would pioneer my own path through the forest.
One thing I learned? Your life matters if you can enrich just the stories of those around you.
What tales will you & I yet create that will change lives?
-Erie Chapman
Journal of Sacred Work 
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