The Joy of Reading

"Literature is my Utopia. Here I am not disenfranchised. No barrier of the sense shuts me out from the sweet, gracious discourse of my book friends. They talk to me without embarrassment or awkwardness."- Helen Adams KellerWhen I was in elementary school I was never much of a reader because it was strangely difficult for me to read a complete book from beginning to end.Instead, I'd find myself sifting through the book looking for "good parts," and any photographs that would catch my eye and pull me in to a place of imagination and wonderment. I suppose I had a hard time finishing a whole novel because I was too impatient. I wanted to know the basics of the storyline right here and now, and I also was too curious to await and find out how the novel would end.

Thankfully, age has provided me more patience and wisdom, thus I can reap much more enjoyment from many types of books, although I continue to favor non-fiction. I gain much satisfaction from sitting in a comfy chair with a blanket over my lap and letting the words whisk me away to sights and sounds unknown. The wonderful thing about non-fiction is that the stories are not fairy tales, but are based on factual reality.

In my opinion, people do not enjoy books like they used to in days gone by. Instead, we tend to rely on television, CD's and movie screens in theaters to entertain us, rather than us allow our own brain to reap what it can from the beauty of the written word using the awesome wonder of our imagination.

In similar manner, so too do many people in our current society overlook the significance of reading the Bible. Perhaps they picked it up once or twice as a much younger person and found it difficult to read, and there it continues to sit, gathering dust on a shelf for many years.

No book is of any use until it is opened and read. No knowledge can be gained until we free our mind enough to let wisdom flow in. No understanding can be provided unless we take the time to really listen to what God is trying to tell us.

The Bible is not the way to salvation; God is. However, the more we read about the nature of God, and men and women who have faced and overcome adversity through faith in the Lord, the more we can understand what it is God requires of us. So too, can we better see the depths of His great love for mankind, and this, my dear friends, is the fuel which has the ability to change lives.

Today, won't you consider for reaching for a book?

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Contributed by Melanie Schurr (Copyright (c)2003 Melanie Schurr) Melanie Schurr is author of "Ecstatic Living Ecstatic Loving: How to have more peace and joy in marriage, and life in general by walking in harmony with God," and "Son Salutations: A refreshing collection of modern inspirations for those who seek God each day." For more information, visit her web page at www.angelfire.com/mi/melschurr