What do you think about a “Sans Singing” gathering in the Plymouth Library on Sunday morning before worship while the choir practices? I often think of the library as being like that. A chorus of minds, especially in Plymouth Library’s beautifully curved space. And now with the Welcome Table and coffee bar it is ready for folks to gather informally and explore together the many, many voices to be found on the shelves.
Several weeks ago, a random pulling from these shelves gifted me with the book entitled, We Are All Stardust. It is a series of conversations between Stefan Klein and the “scientists who shaped our world.” (And that is not hyperbole.) The book was translated from the German by Ross Benjamin. The Free Space square on your Plymouth Church Library Book Bingo card is where this selection belongs as these scientists seem to have minds with free space for other voices that in turn help them discover that new thing never thought of before. Stefan is an interviewer extraordinaire and with titles like “The Laws of Devotion, on altruism,” he pulls you in and you can’t wait to get to the next interview with an equally tantalizing title. They’re short and quirky. No lab coats here or stuck-up noses.
What I personally loved about this book is how painlessly, really very pleasantly, Stefan brought what felt like a galaxy of new voices into my own little mind. To toss around, ponder and create my own Something New in the universe. Funny how a new singular voice arises from the many others they have let in.
-Melony Joyce, Plymouth Church Library Committee