A Winding and Exciting Road

When I spoke earlier of being drawn into reading like being in a vortex and going deeper and deeper I think I hit upon the correct metaphor.

There were the children’s books, the youngster’s series, then young adult, WWII, then history—and it didn’t stop there. Reading one era of history led to another, and more history led naturally to biography. After all, history is about real people (so for that matter is historical fiction, but we’ll write of that later.) What did biography lead to? More biography and auto-biographies! Each book I read would introduce more people as well as more history. I was hooked.

Note: I'm not going to recommend any biographies or auto-biographies to you. If you haven't read any just pick someone you particularly admire and there will likely be a biography available. You really can't go too far wrong.

At the same time there were the classic authors like Dickens who, (dare I say it?) I didn’t much like and Twain whom I adored. I should confess that when I was older I re-read some Dickens and liked him a bit better. Twain simply gets better with time. Who could not love a man that could write, “Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.” (in Following the Equator), or, “Concerning the difference between man and the jackass: some observers hold that there isn’t any. But this wrongs the jackass.” — Notebook (1898)?

Then there is this one, which really hits home with me as a pastor, “There has been only one Christian. They caught him and crucified him — early.” — Notebook (1898. But this, too, is a subject for another time.

 Mark Twain

Note: If, for some unknown reason you haven't read any of his books, by all means hurry and get a copy of Huckleberry Finn!

What tends to happen when I read is that I latch onto a subject and read as much as I can about it, or I find an author I like and read everything they have written. With Twain this was a huge job and I’m not certain there still aren’t some of his writings I have missed.

The greatest tragedy about Twain’s writings is that some are now considered politically incorrect. I have always found it ridiculous  when school boards have banned Huckleberry Finn on the grounds that it is racist. Clearly they missed the point of the whole book: it is the slave, Jim, who is the only character that exhibits any common sense at all. Twain also has a dandy quote about school boards: “In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made school boards.” — Following the Equator. From this, and the quote about congress, one may deduce that congressmen preceded school boards in God’s creation!

Science Fiction and Sword and Sorcery genres also carved out their fair share of my reading hours. Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Arthur Clarke, H.P Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury and more in Sci- Fi, and Tolkein, C. S. Lewis, in fantasy—I read them all. Later I learned to love these genres all over again through the Harry Potter books and a very recent series for young kids, The Ranger’s Apprentice (John Flanagan).

 Note: If you haven't read any Fantasy I recommend you begin with either J. K. Rowling's (pictured above) Harry Potter, or J. R. R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings trilogy.

I read travel books, (James Michener's Iberia is probably my favorite) sailing books, (a wonderful, sometimes very technical series Master and Commander was sent me by a friend. Russell Crowe stars in the movie.) and, of course, many Christian books in my capacity as pastor/teacher. The Christian books need a post of their own which will come later (Watch out for that one!)

One thing I have tried to do is to read one or more of the important books of different major religions. I’ve read the Bhagavad Gita,The Koran (both in three translations) The Upanishads (Hindu), the Tao Te Ching (4 translations), The Analects of Confucius (two translations), The Book of Mormon (couldn’t get all the way through it) and probably a few more.   

Why would a Christian pastor want to do that? Far too many people have lots of loud opinions and absolutely no knowledge of these subjects and I feel it important for them to hear the truth. Let me give you a great example:

There is an email that is circulated by some malicious folks every now and then that cites what is supposedly a quote from the Koran, chapter 9, verse 11. (9/11. Get it?) The email says: “For it is written that a son of Arabia would awaken a fearsome Eagle.. The wrath of the Eagle would be felt throughout the lands of Allah and lo, while some of the people trembled in despair still more rejoiced; for the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands of Allah;” Sounds really prophetic, right?

Well, it is all baloney and that is putting it mildly. Here is what the Koran 9:11 actually says: “But if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, they are your brethren in faith. And We make the messages clear for a people who know.” (This annotated translation, Maulana Muhammed Ali, 1917)

Clearly it is just an attempt by someone (or some group) to gin up support for a war with Islam. It won’t shock you to find out that it began with the invasion of Iraq. (At least I hope it doesn’t shock you!)

Every time this email appears in my inbox I have sent out a “reply all” rebuttal with the correct quote.  This usually nets me 3-5 nasty replies detailing what an evil anti-American I am. Some people refuse to hear the truth when they have heard a lie they like better--but others appreciate knowing the truth. Reading educates, and knowledge is the only thing that can refute a lie. That is another reason why I love it!

In a future post I'm going to ask readers to give lists of their favorite books in various categories . . . Start thinking of your lists now!