"You can't judge a book by its cover, Castle." --Beckett
"Yes I can--when it's MY book!" --Castle
(from the TV show, Castle)
I am one of the prime offenders of the age-old adage, 'You can't judge a book by its cover.' Well, okay, I guess it can't be age-old, because actual books with covers date to the late 1800s. Not the point. The point is that I judge books by their covers (and also the print type, how small the print is, and the color of the paper), and it is unlikely that this will change. Why, you ask? Because I am continually rewarded by this, much less feel the consequences of it! Prime example: back in 2000, when I was merely 9 years of age, I was a summer camper for the first time. In the camp bookstore, I picked up a book (called Springs in the Valley), and bought it because the cover picture and the title were pretty. It sat on my bookshelf for years on end because it was WAY over my head. Then, probably six or seven years after I bought it, I picked it up and started using it (it's a devotional). It took another two or three years after that for me to really start grasping and comprehending and loving it. Fully ten years after I bought a book 'because it was pretty', I am reaping endless rewards from it! It is one of my favorite books, and in my opinion blows all other devotionals out of the water. (And this is coming from someone who traditionally is not a fan of devotionals.) So there you have it. There are many other examples of how I judge books (and other things) by their covers, but this is one fresh on my mind this morning, since I just read, once again, something in that devotional that blessed my heart. So, if you're looking for help in the area of wrongful and hasty judging of covers, I'm afraid this is not the place to come. =]