You are what you read…

I always loved how the Apostle Paul wrote in Timothy “…when you come bring the books” (2 Timothy 4:13). Yeah! I believe it was John Wesley who said “Either read or get out of the ministry.” As a young pastor I found myself easily fitting that quote into my sermons all the time. I knew what great books were doing for me and I wanted the same for my congregation. The idea “you are what you read” has some truth to it. What we read shapes our hearts and minds, our worldviews, our actions. History is full of folks (and many of us have friends and family) who’ve read a book or article or author that shaped their life, a choice, a career and so forth.

I began reading to my kids before they were out of the womb, just ‘cause I couldn’t wait to read to them, as my parents had done for me. Decades after the fact, I still have warm feelings of mom and dad reading Thornton W. Burgess (Reddy Fox, Sammy Jay, etc), Dr. Seuss, Curious George, and many more great books to us kids. We made a big deal of our trips to the library to pick out the next ones. My mom loved to tell the story of when I was in 4th grade. I read William A. Nolen’s “The Making of A Surgeon” and was sure I wanted to be a doctor. I took a reading test and passed at a college level. Mom’n’dad were proud! I read encyclopedias constantly for fun.

Books have always been a great friend. No wonder I ended up doing a lot of work in publishing, writing, marketing, preaching, music and so forth. One of my favorite writers, Dorothy Sayers, wrote advertising, mysteries, theater and theology. And my kids are both voracious readers. My daughter was chosen to tutor other children in reading…when she was in first grade. She and her brother love history, theology, fiction, biography, science, Shakespeare. They enjoy it all. I taught them to build personal libraries since kindergarten, and they each have…too many books.

Read. For yourself and for others. Don’t make the mistake of only reading to your kids at their current level either. I began reading Calvin (John, the theologian par excellence, not Calvin and Hobbes the comic strip duo…although we read all the C&H strips and books too!) and Jonathon Edwards to my kids when they were still learning vocab like “see spot run.” We had great fun while dad explained and exposited hard passages to them, teaching philosophy, theology, critical thinking, hermeneutics, etc. while they were just out of diapers. Today, both children are away on scholarship at fine universities, and both have prospered from the joy and power of reading well.

Nowadays, the internet makes it possible to find amazing books at ridiculous prices. Especially if you buy nice, used hardcovers. And of course, tablets and eReaders are a whole other world of reading. So find yourself a good book, and blow your mind…(-: