Am I trying to sell books or what? I can’t deny that I’d like to see everyone reading a copy of Thresholds and Passages, but there is more to this blog than selling books. The truth is that amidst the many tidbits of instruction – some practical, some quite meaty – that Paul writes to Timothy in his first letter, is a sweet little sentence that I’ve often wondered about.

“Until I come, pay attention to your reading (1 Timothy 4:13).” My paraphrase, for sure, but the gist of the sentence nonetheless. While many would say this is talking about reading the Bible, I wouldn’t be so quick to jump to that conclusion. The context does go on to instruct the young minister, Timothy, to also give his time to “exhortation and doctrine.” Those are big religious words that most people skip over in their reading, but for the purpose of this blog, let’s use their common definitions that infer the idea of “urging people to listen to the teaching around them.” Or, as Rob Bell says in his DVD entitled “Breathe,” pay attention to the burning bushes on our left and right. We’re passing them every day and we don’t even notice they’re there. Pay attention!

Reading is FUNdamental! It’s stretching, and necessary to our growth. “I cannot live without books,” said Thomas Jefferson. Francis Bacon, the English essayist, said, “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed on and digested.” What have you been chewing on lately?

Since I’m allowed to climb up on my little soapbox when I write these pieces, I must pontificate by saying that watching today’s TV is a colossal waste of time that robs us of a treasure trove of ideas, questions, and things to consider through reading. Christian writing is being honed to a fine knife-point of thought that cuts to the heart of things. If you are interested in the shift taking place in that marketplace, I’d highly recommend you read Mick Silva’s blog for a few weeks. You can locate it http://www.yourwritersgroup.com/mywritersgroup/. I promise you’ll learn more about life, reading, and who’s writing what in ten minutes on that sight than you’ll get in ten hours of American popular television programming.

‘Nuff said about that! If you are thinking of ordering some of our books for Christmas gifts, may we suggest you order them through www.pleasantwordbooks.com? That is our publisher’s site and we make the best royalty through those sales. If you live in the area you can drop by the house to pick up your copy, or ask us to ship to you directly. Sales are doing well and we’ve posted a few of the many wonderful words directed our way over the past few weeks. We got to autograph books for the first time at our recent conference at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Bonita Springs, FL. (See pictures.)

What have you read in the last two weeks? Write and tell us about it.