I suspect we all consume words, gather knowledge or fill our minds with tales of the unexpected in very different ways. Reading is a personal thing which we all approach in our own unique way.
Over the period of a year I will plod through loads of books. Christmas is book token season so I buy serious non fiction and some fun fiction. March is birthday time so that brings more book tokens and in the summer for holidays I buy more books.
I like the feel of a book and often scribble thoughts in the margins or draw stress lines next to a paragraph. The event of the kindle or using an electronic device to read has not taken hold of me. My print books mean something familiar and comforting.
I am very often inspired by what I read. That inspiration can be mood altering and action inspiring. Except when I read dieting books!
With our granddaughters we visited the Louvre in Abu Dhabi. There we saw some of the world’s most powerful and problematic printed and written texts.
Protected and under glass in a cabinet no more than three metres in length were several ancient texts. The binding and calligraphy were beautiful, regal and even carrying an air of transcendence. Not one word could I read. My eldest granddaughter and I talked a little about the languages used. Aramaic, Greek, Chinese and Urdu all appeared important but to us they were just out of touch. Some of the texts had ornate images delicately created with ancient inks and processes.
These texts are powerful because they represent, in the main, the heartbeat of a religious or sacred belief. The power is not necessarily the words but the bond they help form with the God or universal force whose story they tell.
It is probably obvious now why I also said they are problematic – people say wars have been fought over the beliefs reflected in these texts.
As I look at my modern day translation of the sacred text I follow it inspires love not war, forgiveness not hatred and tolerance not bigotry. Yes I know others read the same words and find the urge to kill or condemn, to separate and sever obvious ties that bind us to others.
I wonder is it the text or our hearts?
When I read fiction I take the side of a character – day dream I’m Bond. But I’m not inspired to feel ‘licensed to kill.’ So when I read the Christian Bible for instance I don’t hear it tell me to be like David of old and cut off a philistine’s head. My heart tunes into Jesus’ words, ‘Love your neighbour….’
What’s your heart tuned to?
Rob Wykes 