I have a very nerdy confession to make. Sometimes, if I read a book I consider to be meaningful, I will write an essay about it...
I can audibly here my cool points decreasing.
Anyway, I am not about to post an essay, but I did just finish The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
I had read excerpts before, but I had never read it in its entirety.
This book, though hauntingly so at times, is so sincere.
If you've never read it, brief synopsis:
The narrator, Charlie, is writing dairy-entry-type letters to an unknown source, played by the reader. He is about to begin his first year of ninth grade, after suffering a tragedy at the end of his eighth grade year. He writes uninhibited because he simply mails the letters anonymously about his transition from becoming a spectator of life to a participant.
Anyway... there two parts in the novel that have stuck with me.
The first is Charlie's description of a moment he feels infinite.
"Sam tapped her hand on the wheel. Patrick put his hand out the window and made air waves. And I just sat between them. After the song finished, I said something.
"I feel infinite"
They both looked at me like I had said the greatest thing they had ever heard. Because the song was that great and we all really paid attention to it. Five minutes of a lifetime were truly spent and we felt young in a good way."
The Perks of Being a Wallflower Chbosky, pg.83
I'm inclined to tear up at a nostalgic song or cleverly written line, so it doesn't surprise me that this statement has stuck to me on the inside.
I love those moments of infinity and internally cataloged them immediately when I read this.
Last Saturday was one of those moments for me. I got to stand by my soul-mate in a candle lit room and worship our creator for an hour. I wasn't concerned with time or pitch or appearing attractive. I was feeling infinite at the feet of infinity himself, next to the man in who's company I am allowed to spend a slice of it all.
At the risk of ruining the evolution of Charlie's transition, I will just say this about my other favorite bit. The end of the novel exemplifies Eph 6:12 so well:
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
My hope is that you will read this book, but if you don't, I hope for you moments of infinity.
