I love to read.
That’s one of the main reasons that when my family wants to give me a gift, they immediately think of giving me books or money to buy books. Some of you have been in my office and are thinking: ‘you have too many books already!’
Regardless of the truth of that, I still love reading books, books, and more books.
Many times, my mind is captured by what’s new or fresh on the shelf. I love to read over the most recent offerings of contemporary authors like Tim Keller, Donald Miller or Andy Crouch. These, and others like them, speak the language of our day. They help me to grapple with the issues in our current milieu and engage with others in our current time. Many times, they challenge me to think freshly.
But I have also found the importance of reading authors outside of our current time period. This helps me to combat the contemporary fascination with what is new. Just as we always long for the newest gadget, we also tend to seek after the newest idea. Too often, we naively think that the new idea is better than the old idea.
C. S. Lewis once wrote:
It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to every three new ones.
So, based on that advice, I’ve been adding some old, dusty books to my reading list. Some of the authors’ names sound funny. I’m finding their ideas and way of speaking both harder to engage, more challenging to my worldview, and still very refreshing.
Not long ago, I was reading an anonymous letter from a 1st century disciple of Jesus to someone named Diognetus. The richness of thought that I found within these few pages overwhelmed me. (You can access this in the writings of the early church fathers found online at www.ccel.org/fathers2).
I thought to myself: ‘why have I never looked into these sorts of writings before?’ The answer is found in my contemporary snobbery. If the new is better, then the old is often viewed as unimportant. If the new is to be held up as ultimately worthy, then the old may be discarded as unworthy.
So, I ask all of us this question: are we snobs of the contemporary, or are we letting the voices of the past speak depth into our lives?
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Matthew Erickson 
Hi Mr.Erickson. I hope you noticed my comment on your blog
from earlier today. I commented on your “Empathy and the drive to
belong” post while I was in my Gifted and Talented Class working on
my Humanity/Hope/Human Spirit project with my classmates. I hope
you We have been learning about these three things recently. One
source of information we have discussed was Jeremy Rifkin’s Animate
Video: The Empathic Civilisation. It’s an intriguing video. In the
video Rifkin mentions how, as humans, we have connected on the
tribal, religious, and national levels. He also brings up the idea
of us connecting as one species. My group members and I are
interested in how this may happen in the future. Our Project also
focuses on the issue of hope for humanity. I’m a chrsitian and from
what I believe, I havve hope for humanity in this fallen world. I
was wondering what your take would be on some of these mentioned
ideas… -How have people connected tribally, RELIGIOUSLY, and
nationally -How we can connect on a global level as one people -Do
you have hope for the human race? Any of your opinions or ideas or
insight on these topics would be greatly appreciated. Please email
me back at alec.tripodi@verizon.net or comment on my GT blog
http://www.alectgt2.blogspot.com/ P.S- I also want to note that
it’s amazing how are in Milwaukee, WI and im here in NJ and we can
connect like this. I also realize that your “Empathy and the drive
to belong post” was quite a few months ago but I still hope to hear
from you. Thank you and God bless.
I’ll continue the conversation via email, Alec. Thanks for visiting my blog!
Hi Matt: If you look at my “book list” on Linkedin, you
will see I have a lot of old books. Most read several times…yes,
inbetween new ones. Blessings Richard
I love it, Richard. I am reading a 6th century pastoral ministry book, after finishing up a 21st century book on Scripture.
I like old books, or old authors, because they’ve stood the test of time. I enjoy good contemporary books, and probably read them more often than the old, but I tire of so many saying the same thing. I should add a little variety to my “old” readings though – I camp with Kierkegaard probably a little too often.
What’s your favorite work by Kierkegaard, Brian?
Hands down, Works of Love. I walked away from it feeling like I hadn’t known what love was prior to the reading. It’s pretty long though – Fear and Trembling is my second favorite, and it’s much more reasonable to get through.
What would be your best recommendation on Crouch? I’ve read a few articles by him, and was quite drawn in. I’d like to try one of his books.
Crouch really doesn’t have much else in book form than Culture Making (http://ow.ly/3FQ9o), which is a good read. I really appreciate his commentary on things in article form, as well as his tweets and blog posts at http://www.culture-making.com/.
I’ll look into one of those two from Kierkegaard. I’ve been thinking of reading a work by him this year, so thanks for the recommendations.