Reading changes us. Why not choose who we want to change us, and read their works?
Several things to note for this episode:
- Yes, this is another episode that doubles as me practicing for a Toastmasters meeting;
- Yes, I could have mentioned the Bible in both this episode and in Toastmasters, but didn't, and fought myself on that one. For one, I think there are some people who are intimidated by reading the Bible, and if my goal was to persuade, I wanted to choose a more manageable actionable item for them. For another, I have sometimes gotten into a strange rut where I don't read much, but I will keep reading the Bible, and I need to remember to read other things too, and a part of every episode is making sure I say the things that I know future-me will need to hear. And third, I wanted my action item to be immediately delightful, rather than the multi-valanced response Scripture often receives. Going along with that third point is that if people aren't used to grappling with a text, starting them on familiar ground may make them better readers in the long run, and prepare them for grappling with Scripture at some later date;
- I also generally recommend that people read books within a community of readers, but did not mention that in this episode. I still recommend it though!
- I'm pretty sure we'll be back to longer-form episodes soon. And Crystal-populated episodes. It's just been a weird couple of weeks.
As always,
