“Reading ought to be an act of hommage [sic] to the God of all truth” (1958, p. 55) – Thomas Merton

One of my favorite spiritual authors is Thomas Merton. This quote was the opening line in the chapter I read this morning from his book, Thoughts in Solitude. I first stumbled upon this book over a decade ago when I spent a few days on retreat at the Episcopal Church’s monastic community in Cambridge, MA called The Society of St. John the Evangelist. They had it in their library, along with his other famous work, Seeds of Contemplation (It’s been revised as New Seeds of Contemplation.).

I believe that this was the first time I was introduced to Merton. Also in the chapter from this morning, he writes,

Great though books may be, friends though they may be to us, they are no substitute for persons, they are only means of contact with great persons, with men who had more than their own share of humanity, men who were persons for the whole world and not for themselves alone (pp. 56-57).

I have a coffee cup that says, “Choose and author as you would a friend.” Merton has been exactly that for me.

Reading for me has always been an economic endeavor. In other words, I don’t like wasting my time reading fluff. If I’m going to dedicate time to reading something, it better have value. I didn’t grow up in a household where reading was valued. I never saw my mom read, and I’m not sure that my step-dad read anything – books, newspapers, magazines, etc. – the entire time I knew him. I say this not to disparage them but to point out that the activity was not a part of my upbringing in the home. Although there was required reading in the various schools that I attended, aside from maybe a handful, I didn’t read hardly any of them. I think I read The House on Mango Street, a whopping 144 pages. Most of my friends and I would use Spark Notes to address the reading requirement. To be blunt, I didn’t read very fast, and for a kid who was more interested in being physically active (playing basketball), reading presented as a challenge. I was also an anxious kid. Sitting for long stretches of time was extremely difficult.

My efforts at reading changed when I was around 15 years old and my neighbor, a wide receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars, introduced me to fundamentalist evangelical Christianity. Even though I had considered myself a Christian, up until that time I knew nothing about the Christian tradition. I started reading stuff that you could find in the Christian-Living section at the bookstore or at the Christian bookstore at the mall. One of the first things I read was More than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell. Because it was said to have Christian connotations, one of the first books in high school that I remember reading was Tolkien’s The Hobbit. I remember reading the Bible in its entirety over the course of a summer (probably more like a year), partly while visiting my grandmother in Lake Park, GA. In 11th grade we received a small sticker of a star for every book we read. I remember my teacher getting upset with me because I’d put down that I had read Obadiah, Haggai, or Jonah. Apparently, that’s not what they meant. The conditioning that I received from my fundamentalist church caused me to feel persecuted when she said this. The persecution complex starts young in that circle.

As I grew up, my choice in reading expanded, despite the messaging from my old church; they would tell you to avoid or shun anything that was secular. It’s also very likely that the speed with which I read increased as I continued to read., and I came to understand many years later that reading speed will increase the more one understands a subject. My hunger for reading was also associated with a deep desire to know the truth. At the same time reading became an act of courage, and it could even be something dangerous. We’ve all heard that saying that the pen is mightier than the sword. This is because ideas can threaten the power structures inherent in society. Ideas can enlighten, but they can also provoke. There’s nothing perceived as more dangerous to those in power than someone who has the ability to think independently. Reading Richard Dawkins’ book The God Delusion would have been heresy for my old church but was a courageous act for me. I’d rather think freely in an uncertain world than have the false certainty they provide. The former is liberation; the latter a prison.

Even today, I still don’t read very fast, but I’m just as picky about what I read. What I read needs to have something to offer me. It must have depth. It must have value. Taylor Swift has a lyric that says, “A friend to all is a friend to none.” It’s better to have a few quality friends than many who are really just acquaintances. Likewise, when choosing what to read, I am drawn to the authors who have something to say. My morning perusal with Merton captures that spirit.