Gina WahlenOne day a letter came to the Adventist Review asking for Ellen White’s contact information. The writer had recently read one of her articles and wanted to get in touch with her. Unfortunately, we had no e-mail address to pass along. While we may chuckle, it’s interesting that this reader found Mrs. White’s articles so alive, so current.
As a young person, I found Ellen White’s writing very boring. I briefly tried reading it, but soon gave up. My epiphany came on a camping trip. As the only teen in the group, I was desperate for something to do. Finding a paperback edition of Patriarchs and Prophets, I opened the book, expecting to be asleep before finishing the first chapter. To my surprise, I found myself on a backstage tour of heaven and earth. Chapter blended into chapter as I sneaked behind the scenes of Creation, the Fall, the Flood, and the various lives of Bible characters. It was riveting, revealing, revitalizing.
Then I grew up. Demands of work and family crowded in. Too little time for my Bible, even less for Ellen White. But I missed the treasure I had found. There was a power in her writings that brought the Bible to life and gave good direction to my own.
Sensing a spiritual need, I made the big (not easy) decision of going to bed and getting up earlier, allowing for time with God and His Word. While reading Christ’s parables in the Gospels, I also read Christ’s Object Lessons, by Ellen G. White. The impact of that little book on my life has been huge.
Sometimes it’s too easy to judge a book by its cover, or an author by the reputation assigned to her by some. Sometimes it’s better to just take the book from the shelf, dust off the cover, and read.
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Gina Wahlen is an interim assistant editor at the Adventist Review. This article was published February 17, 2011.
