• About
  • Submissions
  • Store
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube

Story Warren

Kindling Imagination for Kingdom Anticipation

  • Fostering Imagination
    • Valuing Imagination
    • Parenting
    • Faith & Vision
  • Resources
    • Books
    • Music
    • Movies
    • Interviews
    • Lists
  • Warren & the World
  • For Kids
    • Poems
    • Stories
    • Songs

A Pathway to Full Life

May 28, 2018 by John Sommer 2 Comments

There is an old Latin proverb that says, “Experience is the best teacher.”

What we really know is not the sum of our theoretical  knowledge, but what we have accumulated through truth applied to our experience.

Though I hold this as foundational truth, as a father of four growing children it makes me shudder. There are many things I want my children to learn firsthand, but do I want them to pass through every shadowy place or every field of heartache to gain the wisdom possible on the other side? No, definitely not. I want to prepare them for this broken world and the challenges that come from living in it, but how do I prepare them without scarring their souls and muddying their feet with destructive experiences?

The answer to this soul-searching is found in a word: reading.

Reading is a pathway to live another’s life, to see through another’s eyes, to feel another’s feelings. A pathway of experience.

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies…the man who never reads only lives once.” -G.R.R. Martin.

This might sound like wishful thinking, but Scripture attests to its truth.

As I read 1 Timothy 4:13 recently, I was arrested by Paul’s words to the young missionary pastor Timothy: “Until I come, give attention to reading…”.

Though some commentaries and even some translations add the concept of public to the word reading, the original text carries no such modifier. The context may imply reading the Scriptures, which is fundamental to our faith, but Paul does not say that he means exclusively Scripture. The admonition simply states, “Give attention to reading.”

But why? I think the reason is in the very word itself. The Greek word used by Paul here is anaginosis, which means, “a knowing again, an owning”.  It is from a broader Greek word anaginosko, which is made up of two words:  ano—“again,”  which is used to intensify ginosko—“personally known”. So this word anaginosko properly means, “to know again through reading; reading enables others to re-live (appreciate) what was conveyed or experienced by the original author.”

When Scripture says, “Give attention to reading,” it is also telling us the power behind such reading–the power to live a thousand lives, to learn a thousand lessons, to experience things without walking their literal pathways ourselves. This is one reason why any man, woman, or child around the globe can pick up a Bible in his own language and be transported to the world of Christ. He can see experientially the life and death of Christ and come to trust Him fully, though he has never physically met Him.

If I want to prepare my children for the pathways of life ahead by employing  the best teacher, experience,  I can do so by purposeful, planned, and proactive reading. When I sit them in my lap I am not simply entertaining them, I am equipping them. Every time I suggest a book, I am adding the life in that story to the vast treasure-house of experience that they can use to navigate the pathways ahead.

They can learn to deal with losing a family member with Jo in Little Women.

They can possess  the tear-filled  treasure  of sacrifice with Charlotte and Wilber in Charlotte’s Web.

They can learn courage to do what is right with Janner Igiby in the Wingfeather Saga.

They can pledge to live for a Mended Wood with Heather and Picket in The Green Ember.

They can taste failure and its bitter consequences at a safe distance. They can feel the heart-pounding jubilation of victory. They can experience the laughter and trials, the hopes and fears, the blood, sweat, and tears of multitudes of lives… but only if they read.

As Ray Bradbury put it, “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”

As a father I strive to place my children in a pathway to full living and, because reading and the experiences that it creates are so powerful, I am committed to giving my children not just any books, but the best books. I must give them living books, life-giving books, that lead to honor, kindness, goodness, and hope. May the armchairs of my home become the launching pads of brave and noble lives.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
John Sommer
John Sommer
John always wanted to be Robin Hood when he was little, that is, when he was not playing with Lego and dreaming about designing houses. Now he and his wife are missionaries in West Africa, and writers in whatever part of the world they happen to find themselves on that day.

You can find John’s first book, Zao’s Tales at Bandersnatch Books: https://www.bandersnatchbooks.com/books/zaos-tales
John Sommer
Latest posts by John Sommer (see all)
  • The Hope of a Hero - February 20, 2023
  • Incarnation: The Word made Flesh - December 19, 2022
  • Gradual Emancipation: A Parent’s Sacrifice - November 28, 2022

Filed Under: Fostering Imagination, Parenting

Get Story Warren in Your Inbox

Comments

  1. Mom of 6 says

    May 30, 2018 at 7:26 am

    I appreciate your thoughts on this. FYI- you have the incorrect reference for the verse. I think you meant to write FIRST Timothy 4:13 not Second.

    Reply
    • James D. Witmer says

      May 30, 2018 at 10:09 am

      Whoops, that slipped through proofreading! Fixed now.

      Reply

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

Get a Free Audiobook + Story Warren in your Inbox!

Sign up for our weekly Warren & The World and get The Black Star of Kingston audiobook for FREE!

Join us on Facebook

Story Warren
  • Latest Posts
  • Store
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2012 - 2025 Story Warren, LLC · Site by Design by Insight

Copyright © 2025 · Story Warren on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in