Adventure through Books
(This
article appeared in November, 1959, in Moody Monthly. It is a
little dated at points but there are still many useful insights.)
By Dallas M. Roark
LAST week I, traveled with two
women missionaries in a dugout canoe on the Morona River, deep in
the Peruvian jungle. My heart ached as I saw the needs of degenerated
jungle men and women, and it filled with gratitude when I saw the
two Wycliffe Bible translators striving to crack the language
barrier and bring God's Word to these people.
This week I stood in the crowds
that thronged the Cow Palace in San Francisco to hear Billy Graham
speak about sin, repentance and forgiveness. Two months ago I walked
with Martin Luther and helped nail the ninety-five theses on the door
of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, inviting the debate which
ignited the Reformation.
These are only a few of the
multi-lives I lead. No place; no age, no event can escape my presence.
I simply turn on the lamp, pull down the shades of my mind on the world
about me and become alive in a new world--in books.
Through books I have helped to
build the structure of my faith. By the printed page I rejoiced with
Adoniram Judson when, ,after seven years of seemingly fruitless labor,
he saw his first convert in Burma. I have lived with a host of great
spiritual giants--Moody, Judson, Carey, Truett, Graham, Augustine,
Luther and Calvin, to mention only a few.
Through books I have left
behind a mundane life and found one filled with growth in the knowledge
of Christ, contentment without TV, .and a portable companion
always at hand.
Would you like to do the same?
Then throw away your excuses-- "I don't have time to read; I never get
anything out of books; I can't concentrate that long!"and begin to
live in a fascinating new world. Here is how you can help yourself get
started and keep on reading.
+ GET more enjoyment out of
reading by learning! It is perfectly possible to read through a good
book and learn nothing. While you see the form of words pass before
your eyes, your mind is running through a preview of what next
summer's vacation will be like. Stop at the end
of two or three pages and ask yourself, "What did I read? What is the
author saying? Where is he right or wrong?" When you can use your
reading material in your everyday speech, you will have learned
something and at the same time enjoyed reading.
You can help yourself learn if
you underline as you read. Underline the main points---if the book
is yours and not the library's--thus creating an outline of the thought
progression, As a student there was a time when I would not buy a
second-hand book that was marked-up with underlining. But now, if
there has been outlining and brief notations made in the reading,
that's the book I want. I can see the main points as they have
been marked, and this means easy reading. The underlining is also a
help in remembering important statements and locating parts I
want to reread.
+ IF you haven't read a book for
some time, begin with a small book. At the outset, avoid heavier books
like doctrinal or Bible study books. By reading a small book first, you
will have the sense of achievement in completing a book. Don't spoil
the sense of achievement by jumping from book to book, never
completing any of them (of course, if it's absolutely dull, drop it).
Have a systematic way of buying
to help you read systematically. The most popular book boom in recent
times is the book club. There are Christian book clubs offering good,
wholesome literature in many varieties-- fiction, biography, Bible
study and others. The advantage of a book club, outside the savings, is
the sifting process. The editors choose books they think are
significant, well written and of lasting importance. It helps to
insure the club member against dull books.
One such club--the Pine brook
Book Club--is really four book clubs in one. It caters to those who
want study and reference books, those who want Christian
fiction, youngsters who want juvenile books and "bargain" books. A
monthly magazine, Bookcast,
contains many alternate selections from which to choose. With every
four books purchased, you can choose a dividend book from twenty
to forty titles. Often books are offered at lower than bookstore
prices. Further information can be obtained from the Pinebrook
Book Club, 140 Churchtown Rd., Penn's Grove, N.J.
Evangelical Books of Greenvale,
NY., offers a selection of books that appeal to the serious reader. No
minimum number of purchases is required to maintain membership. Each
month the selection is sent to you and ten days are allotted for
browsing through the book. It can be returned if you do not want
it. With every two books purchased, you automatically receive a free
dividend book. Prices, again, are usually lower than the
publisher's price at the bookstore. The reason for the
savings is the mass buying power of a book club.
Most book clubs offer free books as an enticement to join. Values range
from six to twenty dollars.
+ ANOTHER systematic method of
buying books is through the family budget. You can include a monthly
sum in your family budget just as you do rent and food. With a
book budget you don't gain the savings of a book club arrangement, but
you do have greater selectivity.
Your local bookstore will be glad
to serve you and order books that they do not have at the moment. In
addition you can secure from your denomination headquarters a catalog
listing a large variety of books. Many well-stocked bookstores publish
an annual catalog of their stocks.
You can help yourself read more
by reading with your family. On a college campus the student body and
faculty were assigned a certain book to be read in a given period of
time. The results were amazing. It produced a remarkable feeling of
"togetherness" among the student body and faculty as it became a
great conversational topic.
My wife and I have tried this in
two ways. First, we read a book together alternating with the oral
reading. We laughed at and dreamed with Huckleberry Finn as we
shared this common experience of reading. Second, we read the same book
separately. When "To the Golden Shores," the biography of Adoniram
Judson, came out, I read it and was so impressed that I urged her to
read it. For two or three weeks we talked and lived Judson's life with
him. Our family unity was deepened because of· this common
experience.
+ ANOTHER great help to reading
is the paperback editions. Christian publishers as well as secular are
working in this field. Moody Press has several series of these
including its well-known Colportage Library.
The merits of the paperback are
the convenient size and cost. It will fit in your coat or hip pocket or
purse, and the prices are anywhere from 25c to $1.95. Publishers are
reporting that youngsters are reading Socrates, Plato, Shakespeare and
others and liking them. Youngsters who once rebelled at carrying around
a large book have found that paperbacks are portable.
There are hundreds of paperbacks
on hundreds of subjects. Most bookstores have them. If their supply is
small, they have a paperback catalog with complete listings.
To help yourself keep on reading,
set a reading goal for yourself. Assess your time and set a certain
number of books for a year. Pro-rate this number through
the year and methodically work to achieve it. I try to place a
time limit on reading books. If I do not finish a book in two weeks,
the continuity of thought begins to fade. When the last page is turned,
I am frustrated when I ask myself the question, "What did I read?"
My greatest joy in reading is completing a book in a week. Then I see
it as a whole.
These suggestions can lead to
increased reading, growth in understanding and deeper satisfaction as
your life is enriched through books. Remember, you can only live
one life, but you can share the adventures of many lives--through
books.
END
November, 1959