We are unusually late getting to the blog this evening. I was reading a novel and lost track of the time. This isn't that uncommon for me. Much of my life revolves around reading. Legend has it that I was reading at an early age. Guess it was such an early age that I don't remember it. What does stick in my mind is a love of stories beginning with the always important comic book. My guess is back in the 1960s that more than a few young boys began their education not with the first grade reader but comic books. Yes, I do remember reading in the first grade. Seems like much of that time that I was slightly perturbed at others in the class who didn't seem to have the hang of it.

I spent more hours in the school library than anyone else. Every day seemed to find me looking for a new book in there to read. When that didn't happen I just went back and read books again. Let me confess to being ejected from a math class in high school because I was reading and not doing algebra. This really wasn't a mean thing. I could not blame the teacher for doing so. Of course it may be the reason that my grade barely got past the level for passing in math. To this day I swear that the teacher let me out of algebra as long as I promised to never come back. Either way, I decided that was the last math class for me. It is true that reading is not for everyone. It just seems to still be one of my great joys after all of these years.

This summer presents more than a little time for this hobby. My goal is to keep a few books set aside for the days when I receive treatment at the clinic. Just watching television is not enough. Many of the patients sleep while being connected to the medicine. Some bring pillows, ear plugs or even special eye wear so they can dream away. I think there might have been a nap my first day of therapy. The rest of the time though is spent reading. I try to take something fun to read along with something more serious. I very much enjoyed reading To Kill A Mockingbird again. It is the only novel Harper Lee ever wrote. Tonight I was finishing a book that I just can't tell you about. It is the last of a series that spanned several years. There are no real bad words in it. But someone once wrote to me to let me know just how evil it is. No, this person never read the books but some Christian somewhere already told them of how awful it is. It seems strange to me how often we criticize things when we know so little about it.

The best theology professor that I ever had wasn't one at all. She was a divorced, Catholic, somewhat liberal history teacher in college. Her words stuck with me one day just as she uttered them. She asked how can we ever debate much less defend what we believe if we have no clue why we believe in the first place? Atticus Finch asked Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird how anyone can be critical of another if we do not first try to put ourself in their shoes. I like Atticus Finch a lot. One of my core values is to avoid dismissing an idea or thought just because I may not like what it says or even who said it. This doesn't always make life easy. It does help me be a better person.

I may not be politically liberal but I do try to get a handle on why people are that way. I am surely not a theological free thinker but I do try to challenge my beliefs by being exposed to some of what people like that write. The book that I finished tonight is ridiculed by many people of good faith who never look beyond the surface. Do not think this is a criticism of them. This is only a glimpse into what or why my beliefs become valid. Jesus came into a world challenging the core concepts of His day. He spoke God's truth to the point it became one of the causes of His death. There were those who already worshipped what they knew and could not accept the reality of what they heard of saw from Jesus. I do not want to go down that same road. We can and should be selective on what we read. I do not feel the need to stir up inner outrage when someone is so obviously opposed to my beliefs. But there can be a place where we learn to do more than take other's opinions as our own. So, what good is your faith if you do not know what you believe or why?

Bro. Trey