Fine Old High Priests

I checked out an amazing new book at the library last night. It's been a while since I've found one that I'd recommend, but this one I loved from the very first page. I haven't finished it yet, but the writing is so beautiful I just had to share.

It's told by 71 year old high priest Marcus Hathaway as he sits in the hospital at the bedside of his best friend Sam Nicholson as Sam is dying. So far Sam is sleeping and Marcus is remembering things from their past. It is so touching and sweet. I can't wait to finish it! I'm only into it a couple of chapters, but the writing is so amazing. It makes me cry, and I haven't read a good book like that for a while. So I wanted to share!

Here's an excerpt:

He was thinking that although it never will be found in the scriptures and although a man could never be ordained a fine old high priest, it is an office that nonetheless exists.

A fine old high priest is someone who has wavy, white hair, if he has hair at all, or he has thin strandy hair that long ago faded to gray. A fine old high priest wears gold-rimmed glasses and works in the temple and without being asked puts back the hymnbooks in the chapel. He is a person who sees gentleness more clearly than ever before, and it is the hallmark of all he does. A fine old high priest's words are always kind and loving. He thinks nothing is better than to have a child sit on his lap, unless it is to watch a baby fall asleep in his arms. A fine old high priest knows there is more to be gained from life by slowing down than by speeding up. A fine old high priest holds his wife's hand when they walk together toward church and still thinks she is the most beautiful woman in the world. A fine old high priest believes snow is a miracle and waterfalls are too. A fine old high priest doesn't care about gain or geting ahead or making money or who is right and who is wrong but concerns himself more with finding wisdom. A fine old high priest is at peace with himself, and he understands life, and he knows he can't tell another how to become a fine old high priest because it is something that is not sought but happens gradually and may take a lifetime or more. A fine old high priest finds joy in common things, treasures a crayon drawing from a five-year-old more than any piece of art in a museum, and nothing bothers him much because he knows that he has done well and this part of existence is almost over and he needs only to endure another season. A fine old high priest knows how to say good-bye and looks forward to saying hello. A fine old high priest likes where he is in the world he created.

Many men grow old, and many are high priests. It is the fine part that is difficult to attain.