What I’ve noticed is that there are seasons to my reading rhythms and those seasons often support one another.
As I was reading The Hunchback of Notre-Dame this past fall in preparation for writing member resources, I stepped outside to take a break.
It was a grand adventure living in Hungary for five weeks, but I found myself craving friendship and familiarity: my heart was longing for home.
Tradition is a gentle, living teacher, and books have a unique capacity to discipline our desires and value system.
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.
But how do we find these friends? And, just as importantly, how do we become such friends?
Obviously, a strong sense of virtue is paramount to genuine friendship, but if we are to help each other continually grow in grace and goodness, we should ideally possess clear insight and understanding, as well—particularly insight into our human nature, its foibles, and its strengths. And what better way to examine human nature, to truly consider events and people, than through the study of literature.
If we’re open to learning from her, Anne Elliot offers lessons of traveling in hope that apply to all of us, whether our Christian pilgrimage today includes hoping for the kingdom of heaven or hoping for a faster grocery line.
Perhaps, if we delve deeper, we will discover that the problem is neither a lack of time nor a lack of willpower, but rather a deficient awareness of who we are – of the value of our own person.
The question becomes, how can we share our love for Well-Read Mom with a spirit of hospitality while maintaining an intimate group setting where everyone has a chance to share?
I‘ve had the pleasure of working as a subcontractor for Well-Read Mom for five years now, but it took me a few years to actually join them in reading and meeting every month. Why?