How Do You Read?
As a little change of pace, and to keep this blog from being completely agendized toward denominational issues... I ran across this article at TheGospelCoalition: TGC Asks Bradley Green: What Are Your Reading Habits. It's an interesting piece.
His habits are much better than mine, but I was intrigued when he said, "In terms of reading, I try and follow Albert Schweitzer's advice to 'do everything in 15-minute periods of time, because the hours never come.'"
I'm not entirely sure what that means, but it got me to thinking about my reading habits. I like books that have shorter chapters (10-15 pages), because I like to read entire chapters at a time - even though I only read one at a time.
I am not a 'great' reader, and my habits change from time to time, but they're generally pretty consistent. I try to follow a Bible-reading plan on a daily basis, and most days I will read no more (or less) than one chapter of whatever book I am reading at the time. On occasion I will pick up some random reading at night. I also do quite a bit of reading on the internet (blogs, articles, etc.).
This only lends itself to about 10-12 books per year, and my Bible reading is usually only a chapter or two per day. This is much less than I used to read. But I feel like I get more out of it now than when I rushed through books just to get them done, or forced myself to "read the Bible in a year." Not that there's anything wrong with that, but reading less seems to work best for me. It allows me to think more about what I'm reading. That's why I prefer only one chapter of a book per day. I can then think on that chapter the rest of the day.
I am not suggesting this is the best method for anyone else, but it works for me at the moment. So I'm curious... how about you? How do you read? Perhaps you have some pointers that might be beneficial to others.
posted by dan at 9:24 AM
10 Comments:
Does anyone know why my posts on the blog don't seem to come through on email until way later? It seems my comments on postings go right through to email, but the last few times I've put up a post it is several weeks later before it comes to me via email. Other people's seem to come right through.
not sure Dan. I get posts via a feed reader not email. If you get other feeds, maybe try to get this too.
Not sure about the delay.
My reading habits are hit and miss. My goal for the year is to feel less bad about such things.
i definitely like the idea of reading less and gaining more from what's read.
my wife and i have set up a pattern that goes like this: we pick a book we want to really know well (just finished Galatians and started Philippians). each morning over breakfast, we dig in to a verse or two, drawing out all the meaning we can find, asking deep questions from different perspectives (historical, literary, theological, etc.). then each night, we read through the whole chapter that we're going through in the morning. we generally get through a chapter every month or two.
the combination of digging deep for understanding and reading nightly for context made it so that i finally feel like i get Galatians (the only book we've done so far) as a whole, and not merely a collection of verses. also, the combination of depth and repetition has worked together so that my wife and i both have Galatians memorized, for the most part.
the best part is, there are no deadlines. there's no set schedule. if we miss a day for some reason, it's not the end of the world. now, we don't take that grace as an excuse to slack off, but it does free us from the guilt that i've experienced on other reading plans. so brian, i definitely get what you mean.
what do you guys do?
My reading habits in 2010 were definitely hit and miss. I read mostly for prepare to teach. I did almost no pleasure reading. I have a stack of mysteries and baseball books that have about one chapter read. My Bible reading is about a chapter per day plus whatever I read to prepare to teach/preach. One of my 2011 goals (already 45 days delayed) is to read about 5 chapters a week in books I am accumulating. - Steve Dunn
I would guess that the ratio between the time I spend memorizing and meditating over memorized Scripture and reading it is about 50 to 100 to 1--thanks to insomnia.
In terms of actual reading, I read what I'm assigned in MLI and AMP and then, when time is available, I read Cole and Hirsch and Viola and McNeal and others of their ilk.
But, most of all, I read CGGC in an Emerging World.
My hobby is popular fiction. Two of my faves, Dick Francis and Robert B. Parker, died last year. Among authors not yet senile, I like Michael Connelly and Harlan Coben.
Andrew,
Thanks for the last name.
Winebrenner wanted a statement of faith that was not authoritative.
You are raising a crucial point. I disagree, though, that that's what Winebrenner wanted.
A Statement of Faith or Doctrinal Statement is, as I understand it, for internal consumption. So are all those other things that Winebrenner said that the Church of God doesn't have, e.g., creeds or disciplines, etc., because the ONLY (internal) authority for the Church of God is the Bible.
Winebrenner wanted people outside the movement to know what the Church of God's 'ises' are in both belief and action. Because he was so thoroughly externally focused, he saw value in letting others know anything they wanted to know about us.
Those ises have no authority over anyone inside or outside the Church of God. They were nothing more than descriptions.
When we gather in Findlay for the symposium designed to address the issue of what our beliefs are, it would be very Winebrennerian to ask: What can we say about what we believe that would help an outsider understand us?
That's not what a Statement of Faith does.
That's not what We Believe does.
Dan,
What happened to your post "Can't We All Get Along?" I thought you made some good points and it provided a nice change of pace (and helpful reminders) from the ongoing "We Believe" discussions.
I have a question as a follow-up to your "How Do You Read?" post. Do you, or anyone else on this blog, have an interest in selecting a book and reading it together? We could choose something like Lesslie Newbegin's The Gospel in a Pluralist Society and set a very loose timeline for reading through the book. If an initial post was provided then everyone could post questions from the reading, intersections with scripture passages, and significant quotes from the book for those following along. Also, and this is why I like a book that is a little more theoretically-driven, we could use this forum as a place to sort through the practical applications of what we are reading.
What do you think? Any interest?
brent, i'd be in.
Brent,
I may or may not put that post back up. I don't understand why my posts don't get delivered through email anymore. I suppose my paranoia got the best of me and I wasn't sure if it was appropriate or not.
As far as your idea of going through a book together... I like the idea, but I can't commit to it myself right now. Lot's going on at the moment, and to be honest I've really just kind of lost interest in this blog.
Good to see you commenting again though.
Peace.
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