A Wrinkle in Time
Our main room here at the Phantom History House is the Library. We worked hard to create a space that was beautiful, comfortable, and full of as many books as possible! (We’re always looking for more books, so if you have any hardcover books you would like to donate, please send them our way!!)
In our library we have a “Banned Book Section” where we share a large number of books that have somehow been deemed dangerous or controversial. One of these books is “A Wrinkle In Time” and I just finished reading this wonderful book. I’m sure I must have read it when I was young, but it certainly impacted me differently now!
Reading the Afterward for the book, it was fascinating to learn that this book has been controversial from its publication. Many thought the ideas were too “new age” and metaphysical, while others felt it was too Christian! But book lovers over the years have shown that its message, however it is presented, is one that they appreciate.
The overall message of this book is that LOVE is the most powerful thing in the world. As the children in the book fight again the great darkness, our heroine Meg finally learns that her ability to love is what can overcome all the fear and hate and anger they are fighting.
This message of love is the same found in the Harry Potter books, or in any of our sacred literature through the ages! Although I realize that many seem afraid of the context of magic and witches in the Potter books, anyone who reads them knows that the message of love and tolerance and doing the right thing is soaked into every page.
Likewise with “A Wrinkle in Time,” Meg learns that the things that make her different and frustrate her (and many others) are actually strengths which she should embrace! I found this message profound as I always struggle to embrace the parts of me that I find frustrating. Could it be that they are an important part of the soup that makes me a kind and successful person?
One can conclude that those who wish to ban a book like “A Wrinkle in Time” are afraid of ideas, afraid of young people thinking and considering different aspects of life. But if the tenets that we live by are real and strong and true, there is nothing to be feared by challenging them or considering other ideas. Such a quest always leads us back to the real truths we can build our life on.
I hope you will come visit Phantom History House soon and relax in our beautiful library, pull a book from the shelves, and enjoy some quiet time. And…I encourage you to re-read “A Wrinkle in Time.” It’s truly a masterpiece and I am glad I spent time with it again.
Tim Hinton
September 14, 2023
