Re-Discovering A Love for Reading

Last week I raised questions about how we factor more reading into our lives. And yesterday Alison shared some very clever tips for maximizing reading time that I hope you caught.

Admitting It Is the First Step
It is with much respect (and maybe a little envy) that I reflected on Alison’s comment that reading is like breathing—not optional. After a very honest look at my own reading habits, I find that I'm not maintaining that level of determination right now. I think it’s an issue of making time for the things you value. And if you value reading enough, this is an obsolete conversation.

But my instinct is that there are other well-meaning readers out there like me who struggle to live up to their ambitious reading intentions. How many of us read all of the books on our summer reading list?

After much thought, I’ve been motivated by Alison’s post to come up with a list of the top three ways to reclaim a zeal for reading. My thought is that if we reclaim that zeal, then we can follow Alison’s tips to be the voracious readers we would like to be.

1. Fall Back in Love with Reading
This may be a moot point for some of you three-books-a-week readers. But for some of us, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the busy-ness of life and place other priorities ahead of our reading time. (Does this rhetoric ring a bell?) A good way to shove reading back up the list is to remind yourself why you fell in love with reading in the first place.

For me this means a trip down memory lane. When I graduated from kindergarten, my grandmother wrote a book for me. Imagine scrapbooking before there was scrapbooking but in book form. She narrated the story of our family and my life with pictures here and there. At the risk of exposing my self-absorbed nature, let me admit I loved it. I read it over and over and still cherish it.

The larger point is that pulling that book off the shelf and taking a look reminds me of how special reading can be and motivates me to….

2. Find Books that Really Hook You
Part of my problem is I’m not individualistic in my reading. I’m like the 16 year-old with no personal sense of fashion who simply goes to the mall once a month and grabs whatever everyone else is wearing. I pick whatever book people are talking about and chalk that up as my reading for the month—that and whatever “homework” books I’ve prescribed for myself. No wonder I don’t read more—I don’t do it for fun, and it's not personal. So my plan is to concentrate less on what books a good reader should be reading and read a book I know I will be glad I read.

3. Re-Channel Your Media Consumption
Surprisingly this is not the first time I’ve had this conversation. My consolation when we talked about this last was that we still read, we just read from different media forms.

Most of us spend much more time on the Internet than we do with traditional books. This can be great for research and supplemental reading, but unless you find quality reading material online, it is hard for this act to constitute good reading. Plus, there’s just something about sitting down with a good book you can hold in your hands that can’t be replaced with an online session.

All This Said
I hope next time I’m discussing loftier topics, but sometimes it’s just fundamentals—like reminding yourself how magical reading can be and making it fun again.

Well into It and Enjoying: The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Addendum

Currently Reading: Mystery and Manners, by Flannery O'Connor. Oh, man. Every other sentence of O'Connor's book of essays on writing blows me away. I just want to quote the whole thing. Maybe you would prefer to read it instead.

and

Dream When You're Feeling Blue, by Elizabeth Berg. So far, this is my favorite of Berg's books since Joy School, which was also set back in an earlier time. This one is about three sisters during WWII. The Amazon reviewers say the plot twist at the end isn't credible, though. Guess I'll have to wait and see.

Just abandoned: Social Crimes, by Jane Stanton Hitchcock. I just couldn't get into this "beach read." (Maybe because the nearest beach is a day's drive away?) I don't usually like books about wealthy socialites anyway, so what was I thinking? A writer who has a blog recommended it. Oh well. At least I didn't buy it.

And Now For Something Completely Different

When people ask me how I find time to read as much as I do, I don’t really know what to tell them. “Um, how do you find time to breathe?” I want to ask them. Because it’s pretty much that simple, for me. If I’m not doing a specific task, I’m reading. So here are some ways I squeeze in time between the pages (only slightly exaggerated for comic effect).

12 Ways to Find Time to Read When You Don’t Have Time to Read

1. Read when you eat. This is best done when eating alone, or your dining companion may feel offended. Breakfast is a good meal to do this: I read my Bible in the morning, enjoying a peaceful time with the Lord until my four-year-old interrupts, demanding a toaster pastry. I’m sure God understands.

2. Read on the way to work—if and ONLY if you take public transportation. I live in Texas, where commuters live in their cars, and I’ve actually seen people reading the newspaper while driving. Which is NOT OKAY, the rest of us sane people would like to warn you.

3. If you need to use that car time for books, get some books on CD. You can even check them out of the library for free!

4. Or download books onto your iPod. I wish I had one so my exercise time would go by faster.

5. Read at work. This probably only works if you have a job in which reading on duty is allowed. Two such jobs I’ve had: substitute teacher and library assistant. In Joshua Ferris’s novel of office life, Then We Came to the End, an aspiring novelist uses the office copier to copy a book so he can read it at his desk without being caught. I don’t think even I would go that far.

6. I read a lot when I nursed my babies. (Sorry, male people, can’t help you here.) Peaceful and relaxing for mama and infant.

7. Read during action/chick-flick movies that your sweetie insists on watching despite your complete disinterest. Be prepared to act like you’re paying attention during “the good parts” or suffer the pain of rewinding.

8. If you have dial-up internet service, read while you wait for the pages to load.

9. Develop insomnia and read to make yourself sleepy. I recommend the book of Numbers and economics textbooks. Unless you are interested in economics.

10. Lock yourself in the bathroom to read a chapter. When people knock on the door, call out, “Just a minute!” Do this until their requests become urgent. They didn’t really need the bathroom until then anyway.

11. Bring a book with you to the doctor’s or dentist’s office. Otherwise you’re stuck with dogeared magazines.

12. Go to your local bookstore-with-a-coffee shop. Enjoy your favorite coffee and some magazines or a book of short stories.

Happy reading!

Pioneers, Not Prairie Romances

It’s one thing to ridicule prairie romances and the people who read them. It’s quite another to offer a viable alternative for people who hunger to read something more ambitious.

Last week, several readers speculated that Pentecost suffered from a lack of important writings due to a non-existent academic culture, insecurity, and a tendency to romanticize the past. I would also add the lack of a paying infrastructure for writers, a church-specific culture that encourages (often healthily) high involvement, and the lack of Apostolic examples to emulate.

All of these factors distract from the solitary task of writing serious works of high ambition. Most of these factors distract from the solitary task of writing simple-minded romances, 365 day devotionals, and religious self-help books. Except, the later are appearing by the dozens.

See, I hate writing this, but at the end of the day, they’re all excuses. Ultimately, we’re either going to pursue the calling God placed in our hearts, or we’re not. We’re either going to sacrifice our lesser interests for a significant dream or we’re going to keep filling our schedules with more unmemorable events. We’re either going to face the fear straight-up or allow self-justification to confound our heart. As Jedi Master Yoda said, “Do or not do. There is no try.”

O Pioneers!
One reason I started ninetyandnine.com (with a like-minded bunch of hearty adventurers) was my utter frustration with the quality of articles in our official publications. By quality, I’m not just dismissing the writing, but the article topics—so very few seemed to be engaging the world around them. The only way I could change that was to co-create a different type of Apostolic magazine. It’s pretty well consumed my life for seven years now, but we all have something to show for it. God blessed our dive off the cliff.

Writing something important will take a similar fearlessness. Right now, in our little sub-culture of Christianity, it calls for pioneers, the determined loners who are willing to grind out the trails for others, the bull-headed who are willing to make mistakes (sometimes in public), lose days (weeks?) of their lives exploring dead-end ravines, and face unforeseen difficulties just to reach their destination (which may not be all it’s promised to be).

It takes a different mindset.

Interestingly, it’s the mindset of an apostle that’s needed. Interestingly, one definition of “apostle” is “pioneer.” Think about it—we call the Apostle Paul the greatest missionary ever because of all the churches he pioneered.

The mission of an apostle is “to proclaim God's revelation, to teach the new truth the church would need to grow and thrive.” That’s the mission of pioneer Apostolic literary authors. After all, our most ambitious writings must proclaim God’s revelation through characterization, metaphor, and exposition.

That the apostle's calling is the most peculiar of the five-fold ministries isn’t the issue. It’s the most necessary for the growth (in every sense) of the Church. It’s when the apostles are unleashed that the transformations occur. It's in the unexplored lands that God rewrites man's rules with revival. It's what pioneers crave.

We don’t need more Apostolic writers. We need more writing apostles.

Ready to dive off the cliff with me?

Appendix A

Best Author Interview(s) of the Week: George Plimpton’s The Paris Review basically created the long-form author interview back in the 1950s. Happily, most of them—with the biggest names in 20^th Century Literature—are now archived. Go see. You may never return.

Currently Reading: Nebuchadnezzar: Scourge of Zion by Mark Healy, and (still) that thick July issue of Vanity Fair.

Just Finished: The Buried Book: The Loss and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh by David Damrosch.

And I thank you for your kind attention.

Text, Authority, and Interpretation

I had the opportunity to do research, which was eventually published, while I studied abroad in Spain. One of the things my investigation centered upon was finding out whether talking about authentic texts in the target language increased proficiency. For example, does discussing La Casa de Bernalda Alba in Spanish increase proficiency in Spanish? But another (and to me, the most interesting) aspect of my research was how the issue of authority factored into proficiency. What I mean by authority is whose interpretation of the text carries weight. If a student learning a foreign language weighs in with his opinion of a text and his interpretation is approved of by the professor does proficiency increase? If the professor disapproves of it and puts forth his own interpretation of the text as the “right” one, does proficiency decrease?

The Role of Discourse
After doing a bit of research into language learning theory, I found that there are different types of “talk” concerning discussion of texts in the classroom. There’s teacher monologue—the teacher asks and answers his own questions, teacher initiated dialogue—the teacher asks a question prompting a response, student initiated dialogue—the student asks a question or offers a comment without prompting, and then there’s discourse. Discourse is ideal because it signals when the dialogue goes beyond talking about just the surface elements of the text—characters names, plot, setting—and approaches broader contexts connected to the text. Maybe dialogue about the characters in La Casa de Bernarda Alba would lead to discourse about Spain during and after the Spanish Civil War and the effects of Franco’s rule. I also found through my research that discourse is what allows second language learners’ speaking ability to flourish. However, when textual authority is maintained too strongly by the professor, opportunities for discourse are diminished. Students will be less likely to speak up because they fear being “wrong.”

Interpretation
There are some things that boil down to right and wrong when examining and discussing a text. If a student were to say that the main character of Don Quixote were Sancho, that statement would be wrong. Or if one were to say that Don Quixote actually saw things as they were in reality, that statement would also be wrong. Windmills aren’t giants. But if a statement can be backed up with sufficient evidence from the text, even if it doesn’t line up with the professor’s interpretation, I think we would all agree that that opinion holds weight.

I wonder if I can apply the findings of my research to everyday discussions of text. I would like to think that outside of the language learning context, discourse also allows each person to learn from the other. No one person has the ultimate say so about the true meaning of the text. Apparently, discourse is stunted when someone involved in the discussion has too much authority over the text. But how much is too much? I also wonder if these theories can be applied to discussions of the Bible. Should someone have the ultimate say so?

More Cowbell!

A good friend told me a few years ago that he didn’t know how to talk to non-christians … let me clarify his thought … he didn’t know how to talk to non-UPC-pentecostals. He obviously had nothing in common with them, but he felt he was missing good opportunities to win people to Jesus and make more friends.

Sadly, I had the same problem. I couldn’t relate with people because it seemed we lived in different worlds, we had different mindsets and lifestyles and goals. But the Spirit urged me to make the journey into their world. To take the truth I know and live it out in their world. And this has changed my life and ministry forever.

Oh yeah, one important fact. I was trying to start a church at the time.


Being “worldly” while on mission

Two years ago I met Sam. His wife and mine knew each other, and decided a couple’s night out would be cool. He was very distant until we finally sat down to eat dinner. Knowing that I was Pentecostal and conservative, he just decided to cut the chit-chat and get down to business.

“What’re your views on homosexuality?” Sam asked while putting down his fork and crossing his arms, staring at me.

Today, he and I are tight friends … in fact he’s one of my closest. About that first night, he said that was his usual method of weeding out self-righteous hypocrites. “They like to stay in their own little world”, he said, “They won’t even listen to anyone who doesn’t hold the same views. I was testing you.”

He has major issues with Pentecostalism and most of Christianity, but he and I probably talk more about God each week than any other friend I have; because I listen … and he has questions.


How do you get a non-Christian talking about God? Find out what they’re reading.

Meet people where they are. With Sam that first night, I met him in his world, and it has made all the difference. I jumped into his life by asking about his reading list … and his favorite book.

“You’ve probably never heard of it … Of Human Bondage, by Maugham.”

“What’s it about? Why do you like it so much?” I asked, knocking on the door for the real Sam to come out.

“It’s about a young man trying to find himself. He’s pretty screwed up by his uncle who raised him, a very strict minister that wasn’t in touch with the real world. It’s kinda like a journey of life and faith and sexuality.” He waited for my response.

I wrote the title and author on a napkin and shoved it in my pocket. “Give me a week, and I’ll be ready to talk about it.” And that began our friendship. I’d read a book he suggested and we’d talk about it. Then he’d read one of mine (none were from David Bernard … I started with fiction).

This method has worked and is working with several other people. I’ve read everything you can imagine just to better understand people … and we always end up becoming friends. I trudge through some books and fall in love with others, but in each I learn a little more about how someone sees their life, simply by reading what books they like.

This makes all the difference to them, plus all this reading has helped me to discover more about myself.


PS. It works with all forms of media and art.


~Toby Stevens

www.thejourneyanchorage.org


I am currently reading:

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal, by Christopher Moore. (NOTE: Have an extra pair of underwear handy when you read this, because you will pee your pants laughing.)

Good Poems, collected by Garrison Keillor.

Misquoting Jesus: Who Changed the Bible and Why?, by Bart Ehrman. (This is one of those books I’m reading for someone else’s sake. It’s a crock, and easily debunked … for starters, the Hebrew on the cover is upside down!)

Language: worlds to be discovered

Pure genius
If I ever wanted to write a book about philosophy, I have found the book I would have wanted to write!! Plato and a Platypus walk into a Bar...Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes sold me when I read the book's dedication to Groucho Marx who consolidated an ideology in the phrase: "These are my principles; if you don't like them, I have others." I crack up every time I read it. There is something supremely and sublimely
delightfully, hysterically funny in that quote because of its use of language. BTW: The book on the whole is well-done (perhaps not excellent--some of the jokes do not correspond to the concepts as well as others) and the idea of the book is, in any case, perfect. I would recommend it with the warning that some of the jokes might be considered in poor taste.

"Being bewitched by language"
This quote comes from Wittgenstein and is primarily what this book got me thinking about because I delighted so readily in the ability to summarize entire worlds of philosophical thought in a well-crafted one-liner. What is language such that it commands the power to confuse and clarify? To universalize and specify? To include and exclude? These are fundamental questions that I believe all readers and authors need to address for themselves as well as: What is my relationship to language itself? Do I play with it? Do I build with it? Am I sufficiently awed by it? I am sorely tempted to give you my beginnings of thoughts regarding all these questions, but I have to keep reminding myself: It's a blog, not a treatise!!

As for the one God, tongue-talking, holy rollers
Is part of the reason Kent can toss out questions regarding the absence of an "important" Apostolic work because we have not honed our ability to use language? If I talk to Joe Schmo about being a one God, tongue-talking, holy roller does he understand me or does he then believe I am 1.) not polytheistic but possibly Trinitarian 2.) not a user of sign language and 3.) part of some Christian roller dancing team? These are obvious examples and even somewhat cliched as examples. However, on a more subtle level have we thought through the ramifications and nuances of the language we use? Have we learned when to allow our words room for interpretation and when to be very clear? Have we found the balance of remaining true to an identity while remaining accessible to the audience we are addressing in the language we use? Or have we fallen into a discussion with ourselves because we no longer know the language the rest of the world is speaking? Have we mistakenly allowed the language we use to define us when we should be striving to find the language that best expresses how we are defined by God? Maybe we just need to spend more time listening and more time thinking about what we are really trying to say (this last goes double for me!).

How can we find this balance of identity and accessibility?
I will offer a partial answer to this last question in that this is an integral part of why I read. I want to find the authors who strike this balance and see if I can figure out how they did it. One author who I think does this very well is Flannery O'Connor. There's something about her language which stays true to her roots while inviting the reader in and elevating everyone. I finish reading one of her stories believing I have learned as much about her characters as I have about her as I have about me. Who are other authors who accomplish this?

Always leave them laughing
In the aforementioned book there's a great joke regarding the power of language and its ability to be received by an audience (p. 141):

"A 911 dispatcher receives a panicky call from a hunter. 'I've just come across a bloodstained body in the woods! It's a man and I think he's dead! What should I do?'
The dispatcher calmly replies, 'It's going to be all right, sir. Just follow my instructions. The first thing is to put the phone down and make sure he's dead.'
There's a silence on the phone, followed by the sound of a shot. The man's voice returns, 'Okay. Now what do I do?'"