Reading also inspires creativity. If I had not been reading lately, I probably would not have started this blog and would have nothing to say because I was not putting anything good into myself. It is like my old youth pastor, Marc Bolling, used to say: "Garbage in, Garbage out". If you are only feeding yourself garbage, than that is all you will get out. On the other hand though if you feed yourself with things of substance, you will get good things out.
Like I said before there is an endless amount of material out there for you to read. There are so many different genres, subjects, authors that you almost have to find something you like. I hope that everyone would be as enthralled as I am in this new fascination of mine that is reading and maybe, just maybe we would have something to show for ourselves. Otherwise we will continue down the path we are going and it leads to nowhere. Just think of it this way: the great minds of old did not merely amuse themselves with trivial things, they sought to better themselves and now they are considered great. There will be no more minds like J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, or G.K. Chesterton if we only amuse ourselves with trivial things. Think of our minds like an axe, they constantly have to be sharpened against a hard stone to maintain their edge, such as we have to sharpen ourselves by constantly giving ourselves something to grind upon.
-Danny
I think there can be a strong case made, biblically, for the rigorous training of the mind. Too many people today just coast through life, and don’t give much thought to anything. And even worse than that, in some circles learning and thinking is looked at with some sort of suspicion. But reading keeps the mind sharp and the senses alert. Things like movies, TV, and video games are ok in moderation, but they really do nothing but dull the senses.
ReplyDeleteMost of the great men and women that have inspired me were great readers. You can picture Lincoln with a book propped on top of his plow, reading while he worked in the fields. And you can picture Franklin sitting up at night reading by candlelight, sacrificing sleep just to learn more. Both of these men educated themselves just by reading good books. Many others did the same that we never heard about. We can do the same. Speaking of Franklin…
"It would be thought a hard government that should tax its people one tenth part of their Time, to be employed in its service. But Idleness taxes many of us much more, if we reckon all that is spent in absolute Sloth, or doing of nothing, with that which is spent in idle employments or amusements, that amount to nothing. Sloth, by bringing on diseases, absolutely shortens Life. Sloth, like Rust, consumes faster than Labour wears, while the used key is always bright, as Poor Richard says. But dost thou love Life, then do not squander Time, for that's the stuff life is made of, as Poor Richard says."
-Ben Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1758