Looking For Help? Open Up A Book
Advantages of the written word over the spoken.
10th September, 2018 // in The Coffeehouse Cleric // by Alex Rowe
When I share with friends that I want to learn more about something, and that the means by which I intend on going about this is by reading a book, I am sometimes met with looks of puzzlement. Why would you read a book? Why not go and ask someone about it? Or better still, if I want to learn about something practical, why not get on with doing it and learn along the way?
Indeed, if you know me well, you’ll know that I am a great advocate of asking for advice. I do it often. You might be one of the people to whom I have come, seeking your wisdom or counsel. Nevertheless, my main source of advice lies in books. We read books for all sorts of reasons; a main one being for entertainment. Amongst my current reading is Brontë’s Jane Eyre and I am finding it greatly enjoyable. But we can also read books when seeking help and advice, much like going to a wise friend or acquaintance, seeking out expert opinion, or going to a professional.
“We could make a pilgrimage to a Himalayan sage, but we might find enlightenment much more quickly if we take a trip to the local library.”
If we think of reading books in this way — as places to go when seeking advice — it begins to break down the distinction some people make between the spoken and the written word, showing it for what it really is; often arbitrary and misguided. Reading good books, books that inform and shape our thinking on a subject, can just as much help us to make sense of the world and our place in it as the deepest, most personal conversation we might have with another person.
The point here is simple: the medium (spoken or written) need not detract from the message. We could make a pilgrimage to a Himalayan sage, but we might find enlightenment much more quickly if we take a trip to the local library.
In fact, there might be a case to be made for the written word having priority over the spoken. After all, is not that which is put down in writing often much more measured, and more comprehensive, than words only spoken? Though not always the case, there is a greater tendency to be flippant when we speak, to say — not write — something we might later regret. (There are of course exceptions, the strange modern phenomenon of social media being an obvious one).
Furthermore, words that are spoken, unless repeated, are short-lived. Once uttered, they vanish into the air. If we say something cruel or unkind, we might later bend what we said to justify ourselves or even try to deny it outright. In writing, however, there is more at stake, for to it we can return again and again. When we turn to books, the endurance of the written word, whether through preservation or later publication, gives us some assurance that these are words worth reading. They have been recognised as valuable by many others before us. They have stood the test of time, sometimes survived the changeability of centuries.
If you’re looking for help, seeking advice, or want to learn something, try opening a book. Like the people we meet, a book has the power to change your life.
Thank you for reading this post. If you liked it, please do share it with your friends and family. The Coffeehouse Cleric is a weekly blog on spirituality and simple living by Alex Rowe.
