Reads

In recent months I have become aware that my reading list was shrinking.  When working it was easier to keep up with what was being read.  There were constant conversations with peers and a steady stream of catalogues sliding across the desk, but in retirement those streams of resources have dried up like Elijah's Wadi Cherith.  So, I started using some casual encounters and some emails to ask, "What are you reading these days that you might recommend?"  The response was disappointing.  It hardly put a drop or two in that dried up wadi.

Then from an unlikely source came a deluge of recommendations.  Usually, alumni magazines are full of reports of how money is needed and how it is being spent.  However, when the recent "Candler Connection," came from Candler School of Theology, I found enough reading suggestions to keep my head in a book for a long time.  It was subtitled, "The Reading Issue," and not only spoke of the value of reading, but included suggestions from all the contributors.  It is like a gold mine.  I wrote down my list and will be starting with it soon.

Knowing how to read is truly a blessing for which I have seldom expressed thanks.  But, how important it has been in the process of spiritual formation.  I would hate to live in a world empty of the written words.  They shape us,  expand our horizon, and enable us to catch glimpses of ourself and the God we worship.  What a blessing!  I list books read on the sidebar of the blog.  Those are mine.  If you have some you would like to share, it would be great hearing from you.