Thatcher Wine has an unusual name. And an unusual job. He populates personal libraries. And he gives new meaning to the phrase, “You can’t know a book by its cover.”
WeathersEven in this age of eBooks, Kindles, and iPads, people still like owning an actual library full of beautiful, hardback books. The smell of leather bindings and well-worn pages. But the fact is, few people own enough books to fill a library with shelves that can house more than a thousand books.
So when architects and builders create estates with massive libraries and need thousands of volumes, they turn to Wine and his company, Juniper Books, to fill the space. Wine searches the world to find the right books, both common and extraordinary. Whatever the client wants. How many shelves must be filled? What kind of books does the owner want guests to see? Classics or contemporary? Leather or Vellum? Size? Color?
But how does a person read all those books? Don’t worry. Wine says that most of his clients never have any intention of reading the books. They just want to give the impression of being a reader. Furthermore, many clients merely want the library to look good. Sometimes Wine purchases mass-market hardcovers and wraps them with custom designs and artwork, so that bindings match beautifully on the outside, though the inside is nothing like what the world sees. The book just doesn’t match the cover. But the appearance of knowledge is achieved.
Churches are like walls of lovely bindings, glistening and fancy and decorative. On the outside the people give every appearance of discipleship. Active, busy, pretty. But what about the inside? What’s behind the fancy covers? Are they truly disciples, whose lives are changed and whose hearts are taking the shape of the Savior? God knows. He owns the library, and He is never fooled.
Jesus once said that, in the end, people would come to Him and make staggering claims to discipleship. They would list the great works they had done in His name. He would hear them out, he said, and then He would declare simply, “Depart from me. I never knew you” (Matthew 7:23).
Or, to put it another way, it’s one thing to look like a disciple. It’s another to be one.