This Week’s Reading
July 28, 2017
Philip Yancey wrote a piece for the Washington Post last week, “The Death of Reading Is Threatening the Soul,” about the difficulty of reading books in the Internet age:
“I am going through a personal crisis. I used to love reading… Books help define who I am. They have ushered me on a journey of faith, have introduced me to the wonders of science and the natural world, have informed me about issues such as justice and race… My crisis consists in the fact that I am describing my past, not my present… I am reading many fewer books these days, and even fewer of the kinds of books that require hard work. The Internet and social media have trained my brain to read a paragraph or two, and then start looking around….”
Sound familiar? It does to me, and I have spent most of my career bringing books to life as an editor and a publisher. I love books. But I am more likely to be on Twitter or reading a blog about the Nationals’ prospects than I am to be immersed in a book. I regret this. And while I’m not sure it threatens my soul, it certainly is hard on my attention span.
I recommend Yancey’s article, and I recommend reading books. Two have made the rounds in the church office recently:
One addresses this issue of how technology is affecting us, especially our children: The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place, by Andy Crouch. This would be a great resource for a small class. Email me if you are interested.
The other, Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory, is the book the Church Council Leadership Team will be reading together this year. Pick up a copy and read along! –Richard Bass