Growth Through Reading
This month we share Pope Francis' own reflections on how reading literature and specifically literary novels and poems enriches the very depths of our mind and heart and by doing so, enables us to live a deeper, meaningful life open to what is true, good and beautiful.
A well crafted movie or film may help us ponder experiences. Similarly, dopamine hits from audio visual productions on our phones may gives us the sensation of having learned something important or meaningful. But these experiences are like transactions that may be quickly forgotten or make very little impact in our reflections.
Reading good literature expands our way of thinking and being. In Pope Francis words, “In our reading we are enriched by what we receive from the author and this allows us in turn to grow inwardly, so that each new work we read will renew and expand our worldview.”
The Pope continues to cite the practical benefits of reading. Reading helps us:
Acquire a wider vocabulary and thus develop broader intellectual abilities.
Stimulates our imagination and creativity.
Enables us to tell our own stories.
Improves our ability to concentrate.
Reduces levels of cognitive decline.
Calms stress and anxiety.
Even more, reading prepares us to understand and thus deal with various situations that arise in life. In reading, we immerse ourselves in the thoughts, concerns, tragedies, dangers and fears of characters who in the end overcome life’s challenges. Perhaps too, following a story to the end, we gain insights that will later prove helpful in our own lives.
The beginning of the school year is a good time to make or revise a plan for reading. Perhaps its a good opportunity to review the reading assignments of children or grandchildren who are students. Do their assignments include books and stories of literary worth? What important lessons can they draw from them? This may be a wonderful opportunity to have lively discussions at the dinner table on the stories that shape us and enabling us to interpret our own life’s experiences in relation to the people and world around us
You can read Pope Francis’ letter on the Vatican website.