"One of the great reasons to read works of the imagination is to overcome our habitual disposition toward utility." - Jessica Hooten Wilson
Reprinted with permission from Dan Miller’s book Spiritual Reflections.
Have you come to prize the importance of journeying sufficiently far from home? To illustrate negatively, do you not bristle at the thought of a privileged young woman, growing up in a mansion, residing in an exclusive suburban neighborhood, attending posh private schools, who never leaves her comfortable surroundings? Would not this woman be aided by the experience of volunteering to scoop soup at a rescue mission, or by distributing medical supplies to refugees in a war torn country overseas, or something? If this member of the privileged class never leaves her comfort zone—never witnesses poverty and suffering firsthand—will she not nurse in her mind a distorted view of the world?
Conversely, consider a poverty stricken inner-city youth whose neighborhood is crawling with vice and whose chances of ever leaving his environment are bleak. Do we not readily commend the opportunity for such a youth to visit a rural farm or to attend a youth retreat in the Rockies, or something of the sort?
". . . the discipline of reading fiction seriously and openheartedly is a practice that ought to be encouraged in church alongside other means of discipleship." Aslan's Library
"I wonder, what's the reading level of Hebrews? We see in this warning that the writer had to condescend to a lower level of teaching than he wanted. And yet I think many of us today would agree that Hebrews is very meaty. This should cause us to stop and evaluate whether we are growing in our knowledge of the Lord." Ref21
Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read…The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted with removal or restrictions in libraries and schools.
