Even though there many movies, chances are you have watched the same one twice. You could fill your day with new movies for the rest of your life and never catch up! And yet there are those movies you will sit through over and over again.
- Which movies will you watch more than once? Why those movies?
- And why is it more common to rewatch a movie than it is to reread a book?
It takes less time to rewatch a movie than to read a book, unless the movie is “The English Patient.” Most books require more time than a movie. But. Let’s say you decide it is worth the time to reread one book.
- What book would you reread?
- Why that book?
What might be worth reading more than once?
There may be Scripture verses or passages or stories that are significant to you. You might return to those words for a particular reason. I repeat Psalm 63 to slow down my mind when it gets too overactive, like a time-out for a toddler.
While on internship, my supervisor introduced me to Bowen theory, a way of understanding our relationships. He lent me his case of eight cassette tapes, which I listened to in my car. Remember those plastic cases that held the cassette tapes in place? Retro. Remember when you slid cassette tapes into your tape deck? Remember when your cassette tape got stuck in your tape deck and you had to jimmy it out with a butter knife?
Anyway after I listened through the lectures, I ordered my own case of cassettes and listened to the lectures once a year. Then I had them converted into CD’s and now CD players live in the land of tape decks. But for a dozen years, I relistened to the lecture to keep learning the theory that has proven most helpful for me in ministry and daily life.
This morning, I looked through the books in my study at church and wondered which ones would I reread and why? The initial stack is a few books tall. There is a book on Bowen theory, an enneagram resource, a theology book on Luther’s writing, and a preaching resource. This exercise will take a second look to curate a stack of yearly reading. With podcasts and audiobooks, it would not be difficult to set aside time for rereading. No cassette tape hazards.
What we read/watch/listen to shapes our thinking and shapes our doing. You reading this blog puts ideas in your head – yikes! How might your reading shape your life in a way that nourishes your faith? In a way that nurtures your true self? In a way that encourages you to be gentle on yourself and let go of what needs letting go?
If you are willing, look back and find one book or podcast, poem or lecture got you thinking. Choose one passage of Scripture and reread it each morning for a month. Enjoy the words enjoyed once before. They may tell you something new the second (or sixth) time around.
Lisa Lewton 