Reading

Reading is the key to learning and knowledge. Reading the Bible is literally as important to me as eating food or breathing air. I need it to live. Other reading - the reading of good books - is also tremendously important to me. I moved from preaching 4 services a weekend to 6 in February 2008, as part of what we're calling a "60 week sacrifice." By Easter 2009 we hope to be in our new building; we won't have so many services then, at least not so many that I preach at. Since the "60 week sacrifice" began, I've noticed a reduction in the amount of other reading I do. I hope to counter this soon.

Here's 4 reasons why this other reading matters to me: 

1) When I read a well written book, I get the best of what that author has to give me. No other media can hope to offer as much in quality and heart as literature. Film, internet, music and anything else that requires electricity to work can and usually does get caught up in itself.  A book must deliver. Its content must validate it. Only cool cover art can help it, otherwise.

2) Reading is thinking. Most of us, when we read, actually think through the words that our eyes are passing over. If we don't, we miss it. Media like television are not so demanding. One can easily turn one's brain off to enjoy television. Books, on the other hand, never reward a blank stare.

3) Reading is feeling. Instead of the background music telling you how to feel, like in television or film, you have to conjure up the emotions yourself when you are reading. The emotional interaction with a book, then, is authentic. This authenticity is not only good for your brain, but also good for your soul.

4) Reading is relating. We read to know we are not alone. Reading, like nothing else, staves off experiences of loneliness. Other media offer better escape and entertainment, but do nothing for one's sense of being alone. Every good author writes for only one reader at a time. The connection a reader and an author make is undeniably credible, especially when the book is good.

What are your thoughts and experiences of reading? Is what you're doing now reading? Does the internet rise to this level? I hope so.