I like to read. And as I stated before, I never go into it thinking "Hey, I need to learn something about _________ so I'll give myself homework". I read what interests me, and usually story telling wins. Even then, I end up underlining like crazy. Then I promptly finish the book, put it on the shelf, and forget about it, underlines and all.
In this case I wanted to rehash some lessons I've learned from pleasure reading. It helps to write stuff down. Sure, I'll forget it after I finish this post, but it will look good, won't it?
1. Honesty and cynicism are not the same thing. Ethics was a great read which happened to be an unfinished book. Towards the end Boenhoeffer reflects on integrity and honesty as they pertain to the Christian. He kicked my butt with this truth, then I turned the page and...that's all there was, folks. But for now, that's all I need.
2. People have no idea what Christians are for, but a perfect understanding of what they are against. I read a deliberately offensive short story about a deliberately offensive painting a woman made just to piss people off. It worked, and she set up an exhibit showing videos of their outrage. The exhibit was called "Intolerance." The whole idea was shown as ridiculous, but there is a point in there. Why are we always seen as the negative ones? Is that how it's supposed to be?
3. There will always be a tension between good and Good. I struggled for a while when I saw people who don't believe in God do a lot to practically help others. Then, I read The Road (an Oprah book club member, ironically enough) and Watchmen.
Both show us an imperfect (The Road) and flawed (Watchmen) system of good. The problem is, humanism doesn't allow for sacrifice. Even if it does, human nature doesn't. On some level, we'll still look out for number one. For some these books can be depressing, but for me it served as a great reminder and a compass pointing back to my moral Compass.
I'll share more as they come, but that's good for starters. And there's always movies.
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