Bookstore Paradise

(Click on pictures for larger views)

We rented a car for the weekend (we haven't owned a car for a few years; Twin Cities has great public transit, and until recently I could walk everywhere) since I'm pretty much crippled up and was tired of being stuck at home for days and days. So we went to Stillwater, Minnesota, for some enriching, wholesome, book therapy! Here are a few shots of Loome Theological Bookstore, an awesome spectacle and quirky place. It was formerly an old Swedish church, and still retains the stained glass windows and rickety hardwood floors. To save money (I presume) they don't heat or cool the large main part of the building, so in the winter you can see your breath while browsing! There are plenty of nooks and crannies, balconies, and narrow wooden staircases. It is a real treasure trove! You could easily spend a whole day (or two) in here. It is the largest second-hand theological bookstore in the world. Loome's also has a second store in town with a more diverse selection (which contains virtually everything else outside of Christian theological subjects).

I got some books on my usual interests: mysticism, esoteric Christianity, meditation, prayer, sacred arts, psychology, and saints. George got some real nice books on one of his favorite people: Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. I hadn't realized they had almost an entire bookcase on Teilhard, with many books in French or German. It was upstairs in a secluded balcony, which also included an expansive collection of the works of Evelyn Underhill, Karl Rahner, and Saints Thérèse of Lisieux and Teresa of Avila, and Thomas Merton. (Oooh, yes! All the cool people together in one area!). One reason I considered becoming Catholic had to do with Thomas Merton and Teilhard de Chardin. If these two geniuses and modern-day mystics could become Catholic, then there must be something valid to Catholicism! In my book these guys are already saints, if not Doctors of the Church. If you want to consider the idea of me - a former hard-core cynical atheist for 20+ years - becoming a Catholic, then you are welcome to use my change of heart to promote the cause for Merton and Teilhard's canonizations!