When we purchased the store from Jim & Julia in 2001, we needed to choose a corporation name. And it was this famous story of the conversion of Saint Augustine that came to mind...
In his book Confessions, Augustine shares that in a moment of deep spiritual crisis, sobbing and prostrate, it was children's voices from a neighboring garden that he heard as he encountered a copy of the Scriptures on a bench. The sing-song voices were chanting, "Tolle Lege! Tolle Lege!" Latin for "pick it up and read." So he did. He opened the New Testament and the first chapter upon which his eyes fell was Romans 13, particularly verses 13-14, which commanded him to abandon his broken life of sinful, worldly desires, and instead "put on the Lord Jesus Christ." These transformative words marked a pivotal moment in his life.
"I neither wished nor needed to read further. At once, with the last words of this sentence, it was as if a light of relief from all anxiety flooded into my heart. All the shadows of doubt were dispelled." (St Augustine, Confessions, trans. Henry Chadwick (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992), pp.152)
This encounter is said to be one of the most famous moments of reading in western culture. How appropriate for a homeschool bookstore! We encourage you and your children to do the same thing today. "Tolle Lege! Pick it up and read!" Yes, we want our children to read the great books and the great stories. But it is our prayer that along the way, you, too, may encounter a life-changing experience with the greatest story in the world, God's Word.