Time to Read
I am a freak of nature.Insert punchline here.
Because my sister was 2 years older than me (she still is, despite all my attempts at catching up), I used to sit with her and Mom while she was learning to read. For some reason, all that decoding made sense to me and I was reading along with them before I started Kindergarten. I will never forget the day that I was called into the principal's office that first year of school. I was terrified because the only thing I knew about the principal's office was that it was where you went when you got in trouble. But they had me come in because they had heard that I could read and wanted to see for themselves. I was a tiny child, almost invisible to the naked eye, and they got me a stool so I could see on top of the counter. They gave me a book to read and, of course, I read it for them. One of the cynics in attendance said that it must have been a book I had memorized so the wisenheimer got a copy of the newspaper. I read that too. Mind you, I wasn't comprehending all of this stuff, but I had a pretty good vocabulary for a 5-year-old tiny dude.
All of that to say that I have enjoyed reading most of my life. As a boy, it was all about Dr. Seuss. Then the Hardy Boys and the Three Investigators. Then Heinlein's scifi for young boys, quickly followed by Heinlein's scifi for hormonal teenage boys. From there it was an easy jump into all kinds of science fiction and always, always, comic books. In high school it was Stephen King and Ray Bradbury and that still works pretty well today.
There are certain reading experiences that I will never forget: The Sunday spent on the living room couch reading "The Last Battle" from cover to cover. The second time I attempted Asimov's "Foundation Trilogy" and realized it was amazing. The afternoon in summer school Government class that Greg Buch loaned me his copy of "Dead Zone" and I couldn't put it down. The first time I read "Lord of the Rings." The first time I read "Jurassic Park." The first time I read the Bible.
I still get a certain thrill from opening up a book and beginning the first page. I try very hard to find a place where I will be completely undisturbed if I am attempting to finish a book. This rarely works. Were I to come to the last 10 pages in a book at 3 AM on a desert island, a ship would find me before I could finish and tell me there was a phone call on board for me. One of those odd facts of life.
And now a new reading experience begins. Starting tomorrow, we will be discussing Yancey's new book on prayer over at the Theobloggers site. I know many of you are going to join and some of you plan to follow along silently. I hope you'll reconsider if you have something to share. The whole idea is to get a wide variety of perspectives and opinions as we study something that is as important as food and oxygen. I can't wait to hear what you all have to say, as well as Mr. Yancey.
See you there.
posted by Thurman8er @ 1:43 PM
2 Comments:
Hey Steve. Moderation is turned on for the comments, so I just checked them out to get Greg's comment on-line.
My brother could read almost before he was born. I thought it was a joke, but then I handed the little guy (he was 4 or 5) a paper and he started reading it fluently.
I'm glad to know two bright guys…
I've used that phrase ("freak of nature")to describe one of our teachers who is in her (get ready) 55th year of teaching! That's right, she has taught longer than some of us have lived! With all due respect my "math-loving / book-reading / smelling again / hopefully headache free brother," that to me is a freak of nature.
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