I Can’t Stop Reading

Have you ever felt the challenge to make a change in your life?

Sure. We’ve all been there, done that, and returned to how we were unless we were successful.

That’s where I found myself this year. Among other changes I would like to make, I would like to finish writing my book. But I can’t stop reading. Especially when the story is deep, the characters are believable, and the words on the page make me stop and think.

Then, and only then, do I feel compelled to write.

I’ve read about everything I can get my hands on by Charles Martin. After years of great fiction stories showing God’s goodness in our messy lives and how we can change, he’s migrating from Fiction to Non-Fiction. I’ll follow his words to a new “genre” because I pause, highlight, make notes every few paragraphs, and create a side-study moment to put it all into perspective.

It takes me weeks to get through a single book
because I’m challenged to see life from a viewpoint
that strengthens my walk with God.

That’s the way I treat the Bible. It’s not about getting through to the end in whatever order some list provides. For me, it’s all about pausing and studying so I can be prepared in my heart and mind to present the Word at the appropriate time.

This one quoatable set of words from the Apostle Paul gives me pause to think about who we are, and what we say about our heritage of Christian Living.

You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men;
clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us,
written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God,
not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.
(2 Corinthians 3:2-3 NKJV)

Pause. You are welcome to stop reading here because anything after this line is just my memories and background resources I used to get where I am today. Except, there is a link at the bottom you find interesting to follow.

Newspapers Were My Source – once upon a time.

When I was about 15, I started working at a local newspaper, The Sentinel. If you lived around the east side of the Houston Ship Channel, then you knew about this weekly. It was found in many neighborhoods and delivered to every driveway once a week.

I worked in the office, primarily keeping everything clean. I was also allowed access to the entire plant. This is where I learned to drive a forklift – when no one else was around! This was also where I was first encouraged to cover local football games and write a column (it didn’t last). This also convinced me to be in Journalism during my sophomore year, but I was mainly a photographer.

If writing comes to me easily in these modern times, it was very difficult back then. Though I had good penmanship, my hands cramped so easily. It was difficult writing a 5-page report, much less a term paper. I had no water under the bridge or experiences to write from back then. Today? I’m on my 69th trip around the sun and feeling my age.

I took typing my Freshman year, and that changed everything. Suddenly, it was easy to write. My speed on those manual typewriters was never great, but when I started working in computer rooms, the fact that I knew how to type was often a hiring decision.

Needless to say, Newspapers filled the void of news that did not come at set times on a TV station by personalities. I knew the TV names (Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Ron Stone, Sid Lasher, etc.) but never followed a reporter by name. They were synonymous with the newspaper of choice. Yes. I took both Houston Papers when one came in the morning and the other in the evening.

When we moved to Washington, I realized how biased news had become. I stopped taking the local paper because it never arrived early enough to meet my day. The weekly paper changed hands, and somewhere in the midst, my subscription was lost. I never reconnected.

While out and about, I may glance at a headline. If I’m traveling, I may pick up a local paper just to find out who is saying what for the zone I’m traveling through. But if I’m overseas? I’ll get a paper from another language and just drop it in my files until it’s time to weed through the morasse.

Today? I find m news on my phone, where there’s more information than you can shake a stick at! It’s difficult to find someone or something to read consistently. There’s so much junk and bias.

My Bible Experience

I don’t have my first bible. I disentegrated many decades ago. Nor do I have my first study bible as I’ve already passed it down to my son. (Although, I wish I had waited a few years to let loose of it – it is my favorite Bible of memory.)

Today, I have many bibles developed and designed for many purposes.

Again, I’ve written so much about the Bible, let me now dwell on it here. I encourage everyone to have a bible that has a favored experience in your life and prepare it to pass to the next generation.

Other Sources

I’ve noted my favorite authors, books, and genres through my years of sharing. I’ll not repeat it here. But I do note this thought. A writer worth their salt grabs my attention early and fills my mind with alternate words and word patterns.

All words I read need to give me something new to consider—a different approach from the sidelines of another perspective.

Here’s a blog post I wrote last year that still means most of what I want to say about writing and reading.