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<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nReading as rest? The concept may sound strange, but Leland Ryken and Glenda Mathes in Recovering the Lost Art of Reading<\/em> refreshingly associate reading with the rest that God requires in the commandment that, as Jesus said, he made for mankind. \u201cOur failures to read and read well have deprived us of an essential way to transcend our confining world of private preoccupations and worries.\u201d (p. 30)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c[O]ur culture (including the Christian segment of it) has drifted towards reducing leisure to mere diversion and distraction\u201d observe the authors. Not surprisingly they suggest, \u201cLiterature refreshes at deeper levels than many other leisure activities.\u201d (p. 29)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Literature connects us with the past and provides contact with essential human experience. That point of the book is illustrated by something told me several years ago by a former pastor of mine, who had survived a serious injury while piloting a B 25 bomber over Italy in June 1944 (details here<\/a>). After a possible small stroke he was being assisted by a young woman serving as a physical therapist aide. She noticed the scaring and other issues with his right arm and inquired what had happened. When my friend simply said, \u201ca World War 2 injury,\u201d she asked, \u201cwhat\u2019s World War 2?\u201d Yes, reading is an art that requires recovering!<\/p>\n\n\n\n What about literature that runs counter to a biblical viewpoint? Ryken and Mathes caution about immersing oneself in material that assaults, reminding us that \u201cThe songs of Zion are better than the songs of Babylon.\u201d (p. 35) Yet, the encounter<\/em> with literature of unbelief can be edifying, even if the material itself is not. \u201cReading modern literature of despair can make us more aware of our joy in the Lord.\u201d (p. 36)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mathes recounts her own process of learning to read as she identifies participation in what is being read a something that moves reading from simply a skill to an art (pages 39\u201340). The authors self-consciously use the term \u201cbiblical aesthetic\u201d rather than referring to \u201cChristian art\u201d because all too much of what passes for Christian literature falls short of being artistic. It fails to refresh or provide rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The authors point us to Article 2 of the historic Belgic Confession, which describes God\u2019s creation as \u201ca most beautiful Book in which all creatures, from the least to the greatest, are as certain letters and marks through which the invisible things of God can be examined and understood\u2026.\u201d We read and write because we are made in the image of our Creator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (to be continued)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Reflections on Recovering the Lost art of Reading (continued, part 2) Reading as rest? The concept may sound strange, but Leland Ryken and Glenda Mathes in Recovering the Lost Art of Reading refreshingly associate reading with the rest that God … Continue reading