So I’ve been thinking a lot about reading, and how we seem to lose our ability to read properly. I have noticed myself losing focus so quickly. I used to be able to read for hours and hours, and really enjoyed it. The last year or three I’ve noticed that I read less books, I tend to not finish books (which would have been unheard of for me a few years back) and I read several books at a time, instead of focusing on one.
I believe this is due to the information overload the internet delivers. We’ve become information-hungry junkies, and because of the high volumes of material to get through, we read faster and with less focus, skimming through any form of text. They even teach you how to skim read now. I know I’m starting to sound a bit old-fashioned now, but sometimes old-school is cool.
I recently listened to Pastor George Stormont talking about Smith Wigglesworth. Smith Wigglesworth wasn’t the most literate person around, and hence would only read the Bible. But that doesn’t seem to have been such a bad thing at all! History tells us what an effect that had on his life and ministry.
The way Internet is making us lose our reading skills is even affecting my Bible reading. All too often I notice myself having read an entire passage, without having taken in anything!
So I’ve been trying to read less other stuff, and more of the Bible. I started with cutting out some media consumption. I used to read online newspapers a lot. For some odd reason I thought I needed to know about everything happening all the time. I really haven’t missed it at all, and I must say, I don’t think I’ve missed anything either.