Confessions of a Bibliophile. . .

Jane Austen and Tolkien get cozy. C.S. Lewis and Georgette Heyer rub shoulders. Lucy Maud Montgomery, C.J. Cherryh, and Agatha Christie have more than just a nodding acquaintance. Never mind the other odd pairings that happen from time to time. Shakespeare and Betty Neels? Believe me, though I blush to confess it, it has happened. My Greek textbooks often sit cheek by jowl with Mary Stewart, while books on literature, theology, music, nutrition, history, et cetera, et cetera, all share shelf (or floor) space. 

An eclectic bibliophile. . . yes, that most definitely I am.

If you saw my book shelves, you would know it. In no way, shape, or form do I have enough shelves to house all my books. Which is why I have piles of books stacked in front of those one the shelves, why the top of the dresser in my bedroom is piled with them, and why there are tottering towers on the floor around my bed and beside my computer, not to mention those strewn on the coffee table. And, confession time, I've got four plastic totes (the kind that are meant to slide under the bed) filled with paper backs that I don't read (as much) stacked in the closet and under my dresser--who needs room for hanging clothes anyway?

When, as a teenager, I discovered second-hand books could be bought for a song at local thrift stores, I was hooked. Therefore, when I moved and discovered second-hand books stores in the university town where I lived, I was already beyond hope.

However, I had begun my addiction to written word long before this. My mother has pictures! There is also that rather incriminating video of me lying on the pull-out couch while my brothers and sisters romp with my Opa, and I am reading, only stopping to complain when they nearly sit on my head!  

My family used to (still does?) talk about the smoke issuing from my ears as I snarfed (yes, that is a word) down my latest tome. 

You might well catch me reading some section of great dialogue out loud because it's just so funny I can't help myself. I might giggle or guffaw, then try to share my amusement with anyone who will listen. 

A particular recording or song maybe forever associated with this or that book because I listened to it when I read it for the first time. Or I might not even process any kind of sound, I'm so involved with the story. 

Oh, was someone calling my name? Sorry, I didn't hear; I was spending time with Valancy. Those dishes that should be washed or the laundry that needed to be folded? Frodo and Sam distracted me. . . or Anne Elliot or Venetia or one of hundreds of other book friends. Oops. Guilty as charged. 

I have to chose my reading material carefully at times, knowing that if I start that particular book now, I will be up until the wee hours of the morning--and I know that cannot happen since I have to teach the next day. So I save my snarfing till Friday night--if I can. Sometimes I get caught unawares by a book that started out slow, but then press ganged me into finishing it. (Against my will, of course!)

I've been trying to balance the many different types of reading I do, making sure to read more non-fiction to balance out the fiction. Only occasionally am I so mentally tired that I can't read anything. 

I find that I'm becoming less tolerant of bad writing. It used to be that if I started a book, I would finish it, even if I found it dull or poorly written. I've begun to realize I don't have time for books that annoy me. There are too many good books out there to warrant reading those that are sub-par. This is not to say that I don't enjoy a fluffy romance novel at times, but not one that irritates me beyond expressing.

I don't know how many books I've read in the past year, but I always have one with me in some shape or form. My new ereader or my iPod or a hard copy book is always with me to ensure that I never waste precious reading time, sitting somewhere with nothing to do. 

I find, however, that I need to be more diligent about Bible reading. Often, I catch myself reading a book about the Bible and realize that I'm not not actually reading the Bible itself. It is like reading a book about poetry, but not actually reading a poem--quite ridiculous! The academic knowledge becomes useless when it is not connected to the source of that knowledge. 

"for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water."

Jeremiah 2:13 (ESV)

I don't want to be trapped into hewing out broken cisterns, instead of drinking from the living waters. Knowledge about God is nothing, if I do not know Him as well as I should. Knowledge about God will not save me: only knowing Jesus will. If I don't read the Word, I only have a second-hand relationship with God,  and I only know Him by hearsay. All the books in the world will do me no good, if I don't read His Book and know Him through it. 

"But I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior." 

Hosea 13:4 (ESV)

"Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge, for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips." 

Prov 22:17-18 (ESV)

Don't be content with a second-hand relationship with Jesus. 

Read the Word to know the Word. 

"But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice."  . . .I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me."

John 10: 2-4, 11

Working to be An Example

 "6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. 9 It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate.10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command:If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies.12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.13 As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good." 

 (2 Thessalonians 3:6-13, ESV)

Idleness doesn't just have to be physical idleness; it can be spiritual or mental idleness too. Idleness can be not exercising your brain by thinking about things, not exercising your heart and habits by striving for excellence. We can become complacent, no longer working to help ourselves fight against sin and its slothful habits. We can neglect to guard ourselves from our pet sins and vices, and the weeds of our bad habits can start to take over the garden before we realize it.

The video link I posted yesterday is an excellent reminder to continue to work towards being more Christ-like, following His example. 

Writing to Think

I always read non-fiction books with a pencil in hand. I find I think better and remember information more, if I underline, bracket, star, or write a short comment in the margin. I've done this for quite a while, but never really thought about how it helps me think until recently. And it gave me a "teaching" idea.

So I am starting a new activity in my Grade 9 English class: annotation. It is a great way to encourage students to think beyond the surface of a piece of writing and find a deeper and more personal connection with the text.

I have really begun thinking about the need for me to teach my students how to think. It is a difficult job, and one that does not happen without intentionally finding ways to foster this skill. I cannot just be teaching them the parts of a short story, or how a theme is explored through many different episodes in a novel, and I definitely cannot just expect them to regurgitate facts and information about Shakespeare and his  many plays. I cannot even merely explain to them how a story works and how a character is developed.

I have to be teaching them how to think about what they are learning. Can they find these connections on their own? Do they have the skills to analyze the story themselves?

When my students annotate a speech from The Merchant of Venice, they are not just coming to a deeper understanding of what the character is saying, but learning to think critically.

I've been thinking about this, and have come to the realization that this is one of the most important skills that I can teach. Annotating a story or a poem is the first step towards thinking deeper about everything that they read and hear and watch. I hope that this will help them to develop those habits of mind that will help them to think critically and carefully about the books they read, the movies they watch, the sermons they hear. This is a skill that will, I hope, help them to grow in their walk as Christians, as well as human beings.

"But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil."

(Hebrews 5:14 ESV)

Stale Relationships or Living Faith?

Some time ago, I heard a sermon on Exodus 16 by Pastor Charles Price, about the Israelites and the gift of manna in the wilderness, entitled “Manna: the food that didn't satisfy.”

Price says that the manna given to the Israelites in the wilderness is “the picture of the freshness, of the supply everyday. You see you and I are not invited to live on stale relationships with Jesus Christ; we are intended to live on the basis of a fresh daily supply of life and strength and nourishment.”

This is why daily devotions are so important: We can't “live tomorrow or today on yesterday's supply” (Price).

You won't find a relationship with a friend, family member, or significant other fulfilling if you never communicate with them. The same is true for our relationship with God. Although He is always faithful, we will not feel the true power of our relationship with Him if we do not learn more about Him or communicate with Him through prayer.

“Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning.” 

Lamentation 3:22

“'His mercies are new every morning' . . . . God gives us today what we need today; He gives us tomorrow what we need tomorrow. He doesn't give us today what we need tomorrow.”

We also should not try to run ahead of God and spent time in anxious worry about tomorrow. Jesus warns of this tendency too, saying,

“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.”

(Matthew 6:30-32 ESV)

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

(Matthew 6:34 ESV)

God wants us to keep us in a fresh relationship with with, resting in Him for all that we need. When we stay in this close relationship with Him, we will have the confidence to trust that He will daily fulfill both our physical needs and our spiritual needs.

The song in the video below really expresses this idea: God truly leads us step by step!

Book Talk: The Knowledge of the Holy ~ A.W. Tozer

The Knowledge of the Holy ~ A.W. Tozer

"Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God, just as her most significant message is what she says about Him or leaves unsaid, for her silence is often more eloquent than her speech. She can never escape the self-disclosure of her witness concerning God" (Chp 1, pg 1). 

This book shows us how we can know and worship God better by learning about His attributes, defined by Tozer as "whatever God has in any way revealed as being true of Himself" (12) [italics original].

Tozer makes it clear that we must be careful to maintain a true understanding of Who God is, otherwise

"Left to ourselves we tend immediately to reduce God to manageable terms. We want to get Him where we can use Him, or at least know where He is when we need Him. We want a God we can in some measure control. We need the feeling of security that comes from knowing what God is like, and what He is like is of course a composite of all the religious pictures we have seen, all the best people we have know or heard about, and all the sublime ideas we have entertained" (8).

 We have to be careful not to reduce God in this way because otherwise what we are worshiping is no longer God, but an image, and we have become idolators. Tozer makes this clear in his first chapter:

"Among the sins to which the human heart is prone, hardly any other is more hateful to God than idolatry, for idolatry is at bottom a libel on His character. The idolatrous heart assumes that God is other than He is--in itself a monstrous sin--and substitutes for the true God one made after its own likeness" (3).

By studying the attributes of God as revealed in Scripture, we can, with the Holy Spirit's help, worship the true God, not our own idols of Him.

      "An attribute . . . is not a part of God. It is how God is, and as fair as the reasoning mind can go, we may say that it is what God is, though, as I have tried to explain, exactly what He is He cannot tell us. . . .

      The divine attributes are what we know to be true of God. He does not possess them as qualities; they are how God is as He reveals Himself to His creatures. Love, for instance, is not something God has and which may grow or diminish or cease to be. His love is the way God is, and when He loves He is simply being Himself." (16).

This is a short, but very, very sweet book. Tozer's living relationship with God comes out in every line and continually points the Christian to Him. A true blessing to read!

Book Talk: Dangerous Calling: Confronting the Unique Challenges of Pastoral Ministry ~Paul David Tripp

Dangerous Calling: Confronting the Unique Challenges of Pastoral Ministry ~Paul David Tripp

“Dangerous Calling reveals the truth that the culture surrounding our pastors in spiritually unhealthy—an environment that actively undermines the well-being and efficacy of our church leaders and this the entire church body. 

Here is a book that both diagnoses and offers cures for issues that impact every member and church leader, and gives solid strategies for fighting the all-important war that rages in our churches today.” (Inside cover flap)

A highly engaging read. I found this a personal blessing as well as an insight into the difficulties surrounding pastoral ministry. Insert “Christian” where Tripp writes “pastor” and much of what he says can be directly applied to the pew-sitting Christian.

As a bluestocking who likes to engage with ideas and information, it is good to be reminded that 

“There is a huge difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is an accurate understanding of truth. Wisdom is understanding and living in light of how that truth applies to the situations and relationships of your daily life. Knowledge is an exercise of your brain. Wisdom is the commitment of your heart that leads to transformation of your life” (26-27).  

And also that

“Bad things happen when maturity is more defined by knowing than it is by being. Danger is a float when you come to love the ideas more than the God whom they represent and the people they are meant to free” (42).

It is easy to forget that what we know is not as important as Who we know, and that our relationship with God should not be taking second place to our learning and reading about Him.