So yes, the average American reads less than one book per year. I do not know what the rest of the world is doing (do my Canadian friends have any stats to share?) but we have gone from near 100 percent literacy and being well-read in the days of the visit of French Diplomat Pierre du Pont de Nemours in the early 1800s’ and continuing through the early twentieth century to being marginally literate and only skim reading on our smartphones and tablets in the early 21st century.
Here’s the deal, you really need to read.
Not for my benefit, but for yours.
Deep reading of real books (not e-readers, generally) does wonders for your brain, your emotions, your intellect, and your level of peace (usually).
But I hear this a lot when I’m commending reading to people today, “I just can’t read.” Or, “I’m not much of a reader.”
As I cover in my book Superhero: Being Who God Says You Are, that is most likely not true at all. Our society and its media-dominant environment may have disrupted our ability to read deeply, or prevented you from learning this discipline at all–but do not go down without a fight on this.
Let me just share up front; one of my greatest joys and means of de-stressing is to sit in a comfortable and quiet place and lose myself in a good book. I put all my dinging and buzzing devices away, get a cup of coffee, and sit down with a real book. A book that has pages, texture, weight, and gives me a sense at all times of where I am in the story.
And the world recedes. The words that my eyes feed to my brain become images, actions, and emotions. I am transported from my current stressors to a place of connection with an author, with the story, the characters, and I am enlightened.
And my stress level goes to near zero.
So how do you do this?
First, get a good starter book. Of course, I would recommend First-Person Messiah: Transforming Your Life Through Amazing Encounters With Jesus, not just because I wrote it and want it to sell (although certainly I have hopes for all of that), but because I specifically designed this book to help impart a love for the reading of real books. It is a series of compelling stories seen through the eyes of those who walked with Yeshua (“Jesus”) of Nazareth, and the length of each chapter is ideal for developing the discipline of deep reading.
Second, once you have a book (and if you want a list of great reads, see the appendix of my book Superhero) and are ready, do the following:
- Set aside a twenty to thirty minute block of time to read once or twice each day.
- Put all devices (smartwatches, smartphones, tablets, etc) away from eyesight or even of hearing and place them in a quiet mode (don’t worry, the world will not end if you are thirty minutes late receiving a text or phone call).
- Read for the given time.
Here’s the thing, if you really have not been a reader, this will seem unproductive and difficult. You may not enjoy or even make sense of the text–but do not give up. Keep slogging through your reading day-after-day, session after session. Something amazing will happen; you will begin to be immersed in the story, slowly.
This is much like embracing a regular fitness routine. It is easy to get fired up to begin an exercise regimen, but at some point it takes shear resolve to stick with it if you are to succeed. We know we don’t necessarily feel like exercising regularly, but at the same time, we know we will be greatly blessed if we do stick to the program.
Same with reading. The benefits of reading are huge. Besides the calming and peace-inducing nature of it, reading is one of the simplest ways to grow in wisdom in life. When you sit down to read good literature, you are benefiting from someone else’s life experiences and understanding. You can accelerate your spiritual growth and wisdom decades at a time when you read great literature.
This is something you must do, for you, and for the advancement of the Kingdom of God.
Need a good start? Get a few good reads here:
First-Person Messiah: Transforming Your Life Through Amazing Encounters With Jesus
Superhero: Being Who God Says You Are
Satan’s Wager: What the Devil and Job Got Wrong About God
(Image by ASTA Concept/Shutterstock)
