The Effort of Reading . . . and of Life
Written by Pamela Patnode
All souls day. I awoke early on this crisp, fall Sunday morning. The house was quiet and the calendar was unusually clear, allowing us to fully enter the Lord’s Day with a true sense of worship and rest. Adding to the gift of this day, the dawn lingered as though it understood that the clocks had been set back an hour, gifting us with a slower start to the day. I poured myself a cup of coffee and settled down in a chair by the window to begin my morning prayers followed by the reading of another chapter of O.E. Rolvaag’s Giants in the Earth.
As I watched the sun make its gradual ascent, I pondered the life of the early settlers. Sitting snugly in my home, appreciating the central heat that kept the chilly air on the outside of our sturdy walls, I marveled at the effort and endurance of the early pioneers. I also marveled at the writing of Rolvaag, grateful that Well-Read Mom offers such treasured texts to enrich our lives.
It is impossible to quantify the value of reading great literature month after month, year after year. In fact, I am uncertain how to articulately express the ways in which these masterful works have formed me, challenged me, and made me grow as a person.
Reading is Hard Work
I considered this as I reflected upon the decline of reading in our culture, and a recent comment made by a fairly well-known social media influencer. This popular person told his 40,000 followers on the social media platform X that reading books is now “a waste of time” because artificial intelligence (AI) can distill the key insights from the text for you.
It is true that asking AI to distill the key insights of a text is easier than sitting down to read a book. In truth, little effort is required to have an AI assistant do many tasks. Although I appreciate technology (including the central heat in my home), I worry that a reliance upon AI for tasks such as reading, writing, and relationship building will lead to a loss of important life skills—including the skills needed for thinking, for discerning, for the nurturing of relationships, and for perseverance.
As someone who has worked in education for more than twenty years as a home educator, as a Catholic school teacher, and as an adjunct professor at the undergraduate and graduate level, the atrophy of these important skills concerns me.
However, on this particular All Souls Day morning, with Giants of the Earth in hand, I found myself pondering the diminishment of one skill in particular—the skill of effort—and what that might lead to. Unquestioningly, reading is hard work. Having worked with students with dyslexia, English language learners, and others who struggle with reading, I know first hand the tremendous effort—the sustained effort—required to learn to read and to grow as a reader. In my own life, I experienced this as well.
Although I do not have a diagnosed learning disability in reading, I distinctly remember, as a young adult, picking up a work of classic literature, a book that was recommended for middle-school or high school students, and being unable to comprehend the text due to its challenging vocabulary and antiquated writing style. This inability to comprehend a text that was suggested for middle school students concerned me. I determined at that moment that I wanted to become a better reader, and to become well-read. Thus began a journey that has carried on through the decades. These many years later, I am grateful that I have improved. Yet, I recognize that this growth did not transpire through the use of an AI assistant. It happened through effort, sustained effort.
What is the Value of Hard Work?
As adults, most of us recognize that the important things in life require ongoing work. Building relationships, raising a child, nurturing a marriage, caring for a home, holding a job, maintaining our health, (the list goes on and on), all require effort and endurance. Although few of us will personally know of the exertion and perseverance required to build a sod hut, break ground to grow our own food, or craft wooden clogs to keep our feet warm on an earthen floor, most of us will be expected to have the fortitude to live life and our relationships well. As small as it may seem, persevering through challenging books helps us to build the tenacity, persistence, and determination that life demands, but which our current culture seems to eschew.
Moreover, this effort-averse culture robs us of the opportunity for growth and of the satisfaction we feel when we have accomplished a hard-fought goal, no matter how big or how small. Certainly there is healthy pride, contentment, and gratification when a certificate, degree, or a promotion at work is earned; but there is also this sense of satisfaction when I prepare a delicious meal for my family, or build a garden, or complete a craft, or learn a new hobby, or nurture a relationship through humility, forgiveness, energy, patience, and love.
Holding Rolvaag’s beautiful novel in my hands, the night’s darkness gave way to the sun’s rays on that All Soul’s Day sabbath. I gave thanks for the saints and holy souls who have gone before us. These holy men and women model for us what hard work and perseverance can look like, especially when done in love and offered for the Lord.
I also gave thanks for the Well-Read Mom community. Having been a member of Well-Read Mom since it launched, I treasure the friends with whom I gather. I also relish the books that we read (and have read), books which help us to better contemplate people, relationships, hardship, faith, love, and life.
At times it can be demanding to read the formidable texts. At other times it can be difficult to find time in the schedule for reading and for meeting as a group. However, as I grow older I am better appreciating the value of perseverance, the value of hard work, and the grace from God that helps us to persist. May God give us the necessary grace to continue in all the challenging tasks and situations that come our way. And may He bless us for making this effort.
About Pamela Patnode
Pamela Patnode, EdD, OblSB is a wife, mother of five young adult children, and grandmother of four (and counting!). Patnode is an educator, author, and speaker who delights in reading, learning, travel, eating chocolate, and spending time with family.
About Well-Read Mom
In Well-Read Mom, women read more and read well. Our hope is to deepen the awareness of meaning hidden in each woman’s daily life, elevate the cultural conversation, and revitalize reading literature from books. If you would like to have us help you select worthy reading material, we invite you to join and read along with us. We are better together! For information on how to start or join a Well-Read Mom group visit our website wellreadmom.com
