Have you ever had a pebble in your shoe? It is such a small thing, but such a huge irritant. In life, those irritants come in many forms; I'm sure there is no need for me to list them. Sometimes we can take off our "shoe" and eliminate the offending item, and sometimes we can't.
The familiar "Serenity Prayer" attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr is:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.
This is what much of life is about. If we cannot remove a pebble, we have to learn how to live with it, or look for change at a different time and in a different place.
Good books will actually insert those pebbles into the story. They seem little and insignificant, and yet they don't sit right with us. They irritate. But with a masterful stroke, at the right time and place they are removed or resolved. It is then that we realize they were placed there on purpose, for a specific intent.
On the other hand, poorly written books at times unintentionally have pebbles which are never removed. All they do is irritate.
I believe that our lives often have intentional pebbles. They help us learn and grow. They have a purpose. I heard a man yesterday say, "A smooth sea does not produces a skilled sailor." So maybe in life (and books) it is best not to ask for a smooth journey, but a successful and satisfying one instead.
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