Yuck. I'm reading...

I’m currently reading The Pridigal God by Timothy Keller. For those of you who know me best, you also know this to be an oddity for me. I don’t read very much other than The Bible. From time to time I check out MacLeans magazine or headlines that intrigue me from The London free Press at work.

I have never really enjoyed reading, which often makes me feel like a hypocrite since I spend a fair bit of time writing. Yet, as I write, there are many benefits for my intelectual ignorance. (If there are benefits to be found.)

Primarily, it keeps me sane. On any given issue within the realm of faith in Christ, there are any number of divergent views, which all have the appearance of legitimacy. When I listen to someone who says that it is wrong to dance, there is part of me which thinks, “I can understand that.”. So then I’ll read someone proclaim the beautiful place that dance can have in our journey. Again, I’ll think to myself, “I can get behind that too.” So as I remain in The Word, it helps me to narrow my vision. It isn’t that this helps me to know the ends to every issue, but it cuts down on the noise and keeps the voices at bay.

Secondly, I want to intentionally place a great deal of weight on to the godly people that The Lord sends into my life. I don’t spend much time idolizing Charles Stanley or any other public figure whom I find myself agreeing with. If you are to ask me who have been the more influential people in my faith, I won’t give you names like John MacArthur or Denis Miller. I’ll give you names like Don Graham, Barb Abell, Michael Krahn, Jamie MacArthur, Arthur Carincross, Peter Ungar and Bill Coleman. I’ll mention Will Ong, Craig Bauman, Jamie Yi or Margaret Neufeld. I know they aren’t all that famous and their doctrine may very well be as weak as mine, but I want to value and honour the people who have been there to pray for me and meet my spiritual need on a personal level.

Being ‘unread’ also has its role in what I write. Nobody can accuse me of taking someone else’s ideas and using them as my own. I might be embarassed if I write at length on something that has already been written on at length. Still, it remains something of embarassment rather than sinister. When I have read something of note, I find it difficult to refrain from using it and claiming it as my own.

Time. Time is also a constraint.

I find myself in a place however where the people whom God is sending to mentor me are quietly insisting that I read more. When I told Arthur Cairancross that I will be speaking on the prodigal son this summer, he responded saying, “You have got to read The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller. You have GOT to read it.”

“Yeah. It sounds like it would be a good idea.”

“No. You’ve GOT to read it. I’ll bring it by work this week for you.”

So I figure, if Arthur Cairncross tells me 3 times that I have GOT to read it, then I suppose I have GOT to read it. So I’m reading it and it is helping me without adding unecessarily to my noise.