Reading, Obligation or Privilege?

I read a lot. I read whatever I can get my hands on. I’m worried about the art of reading though. So many people “read” audio books. I don’t think of that as reading. That’s the equivalent of sitting in your kindergarten class and listening to your teacher read to you during nap time. I know that we are all so busy these days. Who has time to read anymore? What with full time jobs, families, sports for our kids, church, keeping the house clean, paying bills….ugh. I’m getting a headache just thinking about all the things we have to do in a day. But if we aren’t reading, how will we know who to vote for? What the different Bills that are being presented to Congress? How about The Bible? Or Torah? I’m not trying to preach religion, politics, or the like here. I’m just saying what happened to good old fashion entertainment? My teachers when I was a kid had contests on who read the most books in a given timeframe. I’m not saying I read the most or won, but I put up a good fight! I was reading Danielle Steele in Elementary School! I didn’t get into the seriously “thick” books until after school, mainly because I was reading textbooks at that point in my life. Those were and are pretty thick.

I think about my teachers and wonder how frustrated they must be. I think of reading as a privilege. I look at my son who is starting to read and hope that he enjoys reading half as much as I do when he grasps it fully. I LOVE going into different worlds. I yearn to escape when reality gets to be too much. I feel sorry for those who freeze at the thought of having to read. I feel sorry for those who think of reading as an obligation rather than a privilege because let’s face it, the way we’re going, everyone will be listening to stories on iPhones or iPods. We’ll have the alphabet staring us in the face and unless someone reads it to us, we won’t know what it is.

I’m shaking my head, sighing with grief, and losing hope that our descendants will have the privilege of reading, not listening to someone read it to them but truly reading such works of art like that of Edgar Allen Poe, William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, Homer, etc.

It’s a sad world we’ll be living in.