reading

Some people no longer read. They only work. They think that reading is something that kids do for school, for a teacher. Work is something grown-ups do to be productive members of society.

But a wise teacher knows the true value of reading. S/he requires reading because it can help us grow, opening us to worlds beyond us, giving us new horizons. Reading can do these things if we are open to it... and sometimes even when we're not. Kids are generally pretty open because they have just begun to explore the world. Good teachers know this, so they make kids read.

When we stop reading we are at risk to stop growing. Work is good (work was given by God as a gift to Adam and Eve) but it is not the only good. Humans are meant to always be growing, exploring, finding delight in new things. Growth is an evidence of life. When we stop growing we are at the same level as machines. Machines can work and be productive but they are not human. And humans are not meant to be machines.

What do we read? Words. God reveals himself as the Word. Jesus is the Word and he clarifies this further by telling us he is the Way, the Truth, and Life. The Word directs us, informs us, and energizes us.

I once had a teacher who didn't like to read. She preferred to write. When we write we participate in the act of creation. It's a good thing and a kind of work. But reading is different. It recharges our minds and opens our hearts and creates in us the soil out of which something good can germinate and grow, sometimes without all that much effort on our part. Because the one who causes the growth is God.

"The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life." (John 6:63) We should all read more.