Associate Rector's Reflections...July 7, 2011

"Reading practice turns us into a kind of literary archaeologist. We dig and scrape to find the treasure that lies hidden within the words on the page.... We find a treasure for our soul that

could so easily have been missed had we not persevered in the digging process. We pull out that treasure, dust off the caked mud, and are astonished by what we see". - EPISCOPAL CREDO, "A GUIDE TO SPIRITUAL PRACTICE: READING PRACTICE, by Renee Miller. 

"I was asking myself these questions, weeping all the while with the most bitter sorrow in my heart, when all at once I hear the singsong voice of a child in a nearby house...again and again it repeated the refrain: "Take it and read, take it and read... I stemmed my flood of tears and stood up, telling myself this could only be a divine command to open my book of Scripture and read the first passage on which my eyes should fall..." - St. Augustine of Hippo, CONFESSIONS

Summertime is a time of the year often associated with reading, especially for folks lucky enough to be spending time at the beach or beside a swimming pool. Often the reading is strictly "fun" or recreational, but it can also be time spent with a really good or great book, something that can change your life, give you an unexpected spiritual or personal growth spurt, or open you to a whole new way of looking at the world. There are great writings from the Christian tradition that take you to a deeper place from which you can deal with the whole of life: the ambiguities, the joys, the sorrows, the ancient wisdom and the always newness of it all. Many of these are downloadable on Kindle and other reading devices!

I would encourage you as the children's singsong voice lilted through the air to the ears of the Blessed Augustine, "Take it and read, take it and read," "it" being some writing which draws you nearer to the ground of your being and establishes you in your truest identity as being, in your creation and, in a special way, in the sacrament of Baptism, chosen and beloved by God. Please take a few moments to read the wonderfully thoughtful article from Episcopal CREDO, and check out the suggested list of spiritual reading I have put together, beginning with some editions and translations of the Bible. I hope your summertime is a time of refreshment, enjoyment, and renewal for you and yours.

Peace and Blessings, Bill Bennett, Associate Rector

SEE A SUGGESTED SPIRITUAL READING LIST FROM BILL BENNETT, ASSOCIATE RECTOR, CHURCH OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD, RALEIGH