Don’t we all value what’s important?
We should. But maybe we don’t.
Or maybe our definitions of what’s important differ.
I place quality in many things. Like most people, I probably put too much importance on things that really have little significance.
But one thing I cherish is reading. Remembering a season after my battle with encephalitis, brain damage, and epilepsy, learning to understand words again was very difficult. Fortunately, I had people who encouraged me to work hard to rewire the damaged brain. I had family and friends, a neurologist and a speech therapist, a church and God, editors and other writers, inspiring me to work hard. To not give up. To not quit. To try again when I failed. To read again when I forgot what I read.
Before the scar tissue in my left temporal lobe I valued reading as important. After the scars? When reading felt impossible? When hard work seemed too hard? I value reading even higher now. I admire and adore the books, the stories, the poems, the pages.
What about you? How many books have you read in the last month? In the last three months? In this year? Are you reading more books than you read five years ago? Or less?
The statistics of our culture concern me. More people are reading less. For the many people who struggle to read, I can relate in someway. Though all of our stories are different, I know when reading can be hard. But I also know the value of working hard to relearn the wonder of reading.
My new book is my personal reflection of how books have helped me live a better life. Reading doesn’t change the weather or the news or the scores of the game. But reading the right books can change us. Writing this book about books changed me. In deep, internal ways, it changed me just when I needed it to.
I hope you will read my new book, Things We’ve Handed Down: Twelve Letters I Leave for You.
I hope you will be inspired to read some of the books I write about in that book. But if you don’t read my book, I still hope you read. The right books. Helpful books. Encouraging books. Books you need to read.
Yes, I hope you read them. Even when it’s hard to find the time, even when it is not easy mentally, I hope you read them.
We’re missing so much when we stay away from the words on pages.
They are important.
Please value them.
Please read them.
