Reading and Reflecting

Let me confess at the start that I am a reader.  I usually have two to three books going at a time; a real live book, one in the Kindle, one or two on my iPad,  plus an audiobook playing in my car CD player. I will typically read somewhere between forty to fifty books in a given year. I read the paper most days and a magazine or two as time allows.  I love to read, so this is not a slam on readers.

I was standing in a friends library looking at all his books the other day and it set me to wondering...well ok, to wondering again...this has actually been on my mind for a while.  What I am wondering is, how much impact does all this reading (See above) have on me?  For all my reading, am I more wise, do I better understand how the universe works?  Do I live life in the manner that my heart truly desires to live, much less how God would have me live?  I guess what I am wondering is, from where does real wisdom and a transformed life come?

I have been reading Paul's letters to the Thessalonians, a small church plant, and his letters to Timothy, a young man he had mentored for some time.  I have seen whole shelves of commentaries on these letters, all those books again, and have been struck by how little Paul actually has to say.  He in fact commends the Thessalonians on their love for one another at the beginning of the letter and then later acknowledges that he has very little to write to them about  loving one another, because, God's Spirit is telling them all they need to know.  In both cases it would seem that Paul would have much to say, all kinds of instructions, theology to explain, and practical application to practice, but he is remarkably brief.  Does he believe, really, that God's Spirit is teaching them all they need to know.

In her book Team of  Rivals, Doris  Goodwin contrasts the education of Abraham Lincoln  to that of his rival for the presidential nomination, William Seward.  Seward grew up in a wealthy home with a library of books and received an Ivy League education.  Lincoln grew up with about five books, one being his Bible, and was largely self educated.  Goodwin notes that Lincoln seemed to be able to take his few books and with deep reflection on the few come away with more wisdom than garnered from the many books available to his rival.

We live in the information age. With the touch of a key we can have a plethora of information on any topic imaginable.  We have a data overload, but have difficulty knowing what data is relevant  or how it is all connected.  Our teaching institutions are more and more geared toward transferring information to the student rather than teaching or allowing them to process information.  We are bombarded with information from every conceivable source, yet most of us seldom take the time to reflect or deeply process its relavance, its meaning, or where it fits in this story we live.

Processing, sorting out what is relevant and how things are connected, takes time and takes place in the context of the world view or the story we live in. As Francis Schaeffer says, most of us get our world view the same way we get the measles, we catch it from those around us.  What is my "world view"?  Where did I get it, really?

Jesus says in John 14:26 that His Spirit would teach us all things and bring to remembrance the thinks He has taught us.  In Colossians 1 Paul tell us that , “All things come together in Christ,”  Does "all things" include, all things?  Is God's Spirit available to give us insight on science, politics, raising kids, or the Pythagorean theorem.  Even more important, does He give us insight on how those all connect?  Or does He just do "spiritual" stuff?  What is "spiritual" stuff?  Is it a different category or compartment of life unrelated to the rest or is it possibly the matrix that gives context and connection to life itself?  Is Spirit that which connects all things?

How does one hear the Spirit speak?  I wish I could say I was an expert at this, but I'm not very good at hearing Him speak most of the time.  There are some things that do seem evident and therefore instructive.  One, He is a person and speaks when He wants to speak or deems it time to speak.  Two, the Psalms tell us over and over to wait on Him.  Waiting leads to presence, He comes when the time is right.  We will never hear Him if we are not present to Him and to one another.  Three, He speaks with a quiet voice most of the time.  Quiet voices are drowned out by noise and activity.

Waiting, reflection, quiet, presence, rock solid trust in the One who teaches, brings to mind what I need to remember.  Do these things characterize my practice of life?  Without them can I reasonably expect to gain wisdom or experience transformation in my life?  The Pickles cartoon in today's paper says that, "Aging is the cost of maturity."  Am I getting my money's worth?  I wonder.

Well, as I said, it has been on my mind for a while...now it is "out of my mind"...that could be dangerous.