So Many Books, So Little Time!

One of my longtime passions has been reading. I can remember reading a lot of books during summer break from elementary school. The local public library would have a reading program that encouraged kids to read as many books as possible. I don't recall any prizes or anything, but I remember many books being taken home.

I also fondly recall the "library" days at school: We could go and check out several books for a week and then bring them back the next week. The "Curious George" adventures were favorites in the early years. As I grew older, I loved to read the life stories of famous people. Robert E. Lee and U.S. Grant come to mind as good subjects of biography. I also enjoyed reading about the life of George Washington Goethals, chief engineer of the Panama Canal. I believe that particular interest was spurred because of his association with the the Shoals Area of North Alabama, where my hometown of Florence is located.

Sports stories and biographies also played a part in shaping my life. During late elementary and junior high, I "devoured" the fictional works of Jackson Sholtz and others. I also liked the biographies of great athletes like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Walt Frazier, etc. Some anthologies like "Winners Never Quit" made quite an impact on me. In fact, I now own a copy of that book--found in a book sale, I think--after more than thirty years.

Of course, as I went to college, religious books found their way into my hands more and more. In my first summer internship, the preacher I worked with sold me several of his books after the summer was over. Those now form the base of my library.

While going through Freed-Hardeman, I was influenced greatly in my book selection by William Woodson and Winford Claiborne. Both of these men had the habit of citing book after book in the process of giving notes. If they recommended a book, I did my dead level best to get it. I still have most of those recommended ones. Among those are: Hardeman's Tabernacle Sermons, The Hardeman-Bogart Debate, The Campbell-Rice Debate, etc.

Now that I am a preacher, I try to keep up my reading. While reading commentaries and reference books on a regular basis, I also try to read some fictional works--John Grisham's books have been enjoyable. I have included biography and history as well. I would highly recommend the following books by David McCollough: Truman, The Path Between the Seas, The Great Bridge, and John Adams.

I heard somewhere that one man I admire reads about one hundred books a year. I thought if he could read one hundred a year, I could at least shoot for that and be happy with fifty a year. I think I have read as many as 75 in one year, but lately my totals have fallen off to around fifty a year for various reasons. Of course, I also read a daily news paper, magazines, and my regular regimen of commetaries and reference works.

I believe reading is one of the most important things I can do. 1)It expands my mind and keeps me learning. 2)It helps me keep abreast of current events and things that my listeners are interested in. 3)It keeps my sermons fresh with illustrations and insights. 4) It gives me material to generate and maintain conversations. 5) It introduces me to great men and women of the past. 6) Some of it helps me understand the Bible and its background.

I would highly recommend that a person set a goal of reading 50-100 books a year. If you reach that goal, you will have read an average of one to two books a week. You will be better informed, feel more confident, and boredom will not be a problem.

Of course, in all your reading don't neglect the one book above all--The Bible!