the world of reading

Reading opens our minds to a whole new world; sometimes bringing stark awareness of current reality, other times engrossing us in an environment that we wish had a more immediate resemblance to our own—as two examples. Lifting my eyes off the written page, and drawing my thoughts back to what is near and present, I wish I could lessen the truth of the first—the news, and heighten the influence of the second—the fictional, yet historic.

I will tell what two pieces of literature affected the above responses. A weekly periodical, the New American, reports what is little known about our government’s actions. Such things as police pulling over private citizens for random checks, or the President’s disregard for Congress and our national integrity, in wanting to hand control of our ports to a Middle Eastern country, are unsettling. (Indeed, there are as well, honorable individuals who have saved lives, and who act nobly in their communities—things that are likewise not widely reported.) Hearing of those that do not get a fair trial, or of those that are pardoned after committing an awful crime, shows us the beginning of what injustice a nation will descend to when it departs from the law of God. When truth is so broadly despised, it is depressing to consider to what extent our society will be ruined, if this direction is continued.

When I close the magazine and return my attention to my house, my family, it is with a soberness about what is certainly happening in courtrooms and capitols. This prompts a desire to make an impact for righteousness in America, and to advance the acknowledgement of God as King.

The classic works of Miss Jane Austen reveal to us a culture which, during one period, was in fact, a reality for a select number of Englishmen, the gentry. It was an atmosphere graced by gentlemen and ladies and their servants, and era prevailed by morality, peace, and simplicity, and in which etiquette, civility, and amiability were the presumed virtues. Admirably, communication was primarily conveyed by handwritten letters, visits in horse-drawn carriages, or strolling together through stately gardens. Granted, the members of this class did not have to work, thus allowing daily opportunities for such things as we typically pursue during leisure. Yet it is inspiring to read of people who very seriously attended to precision and propriety in their conversations, thereby carefully shaping their reputations as well as relationships.

Folding the chapters full of lovely scenes and brilliant descriptions, it is tempting to dream of similar sentiments and artistry, in one’s own lifestyle. However, the English folk of the early nineteenth century did not live in a fantasy. Their level of refinement was as normal to them as our automobiles, computers, politics, occupations, and habits are to us, today.

My only design is to ponder the object of these two publications and their impact on me as I read them. The former’s intent is the narrating of a few true, but alarming, things that are taking place in our government, as well as giving an ethical analysis of other conduct, events, and regulations. The motive of the latter seems directed toward entertaining and delighting, manifested by the story, setting, and style. Obviously, human nature dislikes what is rough, corrupt, and disagreeable to us—whatever in each case, that might be—and likes more that romances and enlivens, inciting happiness and satisfaction. Yes, we can, from our location and ability, make a slight difference against the situation of modern times, and toward the introduction of what distinctives were, historically, prevalent and dear to their possessors. Observing this, we must, also, be content.

Matthew Henry, writing a century prior to Austen, and still read by Christians of the 21st century, commentates on Solomon’s ancient inquiry in Ecclesiastes 7:10. "Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this."

"We must make the best of that which is…Thou art so much a stranger to the times past, and such an incompetent judge even of the present times, that thou canst not expect a satisfactory answer to the enquiry. It is folly to cry up the goodness of former times, so as to derogate from the mercy of God to us in our own times; as if God had been unjust and unkind to us in casting our lot in an iron age, compared with the golden ages that went before us. This arises from nothing but fretfulness and discontent, and an aptness to pick quarrels with God himself. We are not to think there is any universal decay in nature, or degeneracy in morals. God has always been good, and man always bad; and if, in some respects, the times are now worse than they have been, perhaps in other respects they are better."

God has sovereignly placed each of us in "such a time as this" and gives us grace and faith sufficient to accomplish His will amidst this world’s circumstances. He has ultimate power over potentates who rival for authority, and He is the original author of all that is good and beautiful, no matter the country or the century. May we learn what we can from the wisdom and practice of past generations, while diligently using the "knowledge of the glory of God" and His transcendent truth, to speak to and apply in our own unprincipled generation.

"See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire." Hebrews 12:25-29