Many times people find it hard to read, and they would think reading is a luxury or waste of time. It is tough to convince people these days to sit and read and it has become harder in these days of lack of attention and so much to do. To get people to read, there are many inventions that have been put in place and to attract people. For instance, many books are now published in audio and even audio-visual forms to enable people to listen to it or watch in visual form. Books are produced in digital form so that people would not have to go through the hassle of handling or carrying a book.
There is nothing more awe-inspiring than to read and to have a small personal library. It is a pride and often makes one seem very knowledgeable. This practice has also become a show off for some people who display such; a way to show they are readers.
Being a reader is more than the show off of a library or even carrying a physical book or utilizing the digital formats. Reading can be anything from acquiring knowledge to being a spiritual exercise. People read for so many reasons.
Reading and spirituality can be connected in so many ways though one may think that there is no outright connection between them but through reading; we can actually grow in knowledge, compassion, faith, hope, love, empathy and resolve. We can learn better about ourselves through our encounter with the words and stories within a book.
Literature and spirituality have been connected in so many ways through imagination, intuition, creativity, transcendence, contact with metaphorical characters, abstract existence, and unique knowledge of the world through the experiences and drive painted through the words within the books.
Books make us see ourselves in the character and get us immersed in another world beyond our current existence where we are transformed to have better social perception, cognitive intelligence, emotional intelligence and become problem solvers.
Reading exposes us to follow stories, be the judge, learn moral values, and feel love and to give love. It helps us to be of good service to our community, see the dangers and evil in the society through the expressions in the book. It also leads us through selflessness.
Reading makes us philosophical, we travel in spaces through centuries to understand the thinking and existence of the time. When we read Shakespeare, we are brought into the world of his days and through imagination, we live in that world through the pages of the books and connect them to our present world.
Reading makes us better investigators, and analysts of events, affords us to be better judges. It also makes us more hopeful that we are all good judges in many matters, and draws us closer to our creator through our imagination of the world and its beauty.
Reading serves as entertainment, energizer, encouragement, and companion and comforts our soul in times of solitude, hopelessness and depression. It widens and deepens our perception and makes us understand the absurdities and inconsistencies of life. It creates friendship and brings people together. It teaches and counsels. It brings knowledge of other cultures closer to us. It is an adventure.
Whenever I pick a book and get immersed in it, I find myself in a different world; the world presented in the book. I find myself walking on the streets, in the steps of the characters and looking out the window and holding the conversations. I laugh and cry and learn and hiss and empathize. I see reading as a spiritual exercise because it transcends beyond our present world to a new existence, sometimes bigger than our immediate perception.
So, how do you see reading? Tell me in the comment section. I need to read your opinion too.
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