"You are what you eat. You are what you do. You are who you hang out with. You are what you watch on t.v. and movies. You are what your priorities are. You are what you love. And You are what you read." It is just true. All these factors shape the person I am always evolving into. It is just human nature; it is the way God made us. I have been hearing it since I was a young girl, but the lesson reaches me in a new what as I get older, mature, and raise children.
Lately I have been reading novels written by Louis de Wohl about saints. These are not fact books about saints or even the saints' own writings which are filled with wisdom and insight; these are works of historical fiction which have totally captivated my imagination and bring me into different worlds and, as a result, change my current way of thinking. I have been shocked lately how reading about Catherine of Siena has changed little things in my daily life. Reading about who she was as a person has made me want to pray more, work harder around the house, refrain from any sort of gossip or wrong speech, serve others more, be a better wife and mother, and the list goes on. Usually, I find that I need to pray for grace for these things or work really hard at them; but as I have read this particular novel, my mind is filled with story after story of great works she did and as these thoughts are on my mind - I find myself, almost blindly, following her example.
Several months ago I read a book with a group of people which I ended up strongly disliking. I had a conversation with a friend about it and she was saying how she liked it because it shows human nature is fallen and it describes what sin looks like. I agree that some books (like The Brother Karamazov does this well) can pull this off; ultimately, I would argue, there needs to be hope and redemption of some sort that points the story toward truth. This book did not have that characteristic as it was only grey, confusing, and disturbing. I was bummed that I wasted time reading it when I could have been filling my mind with other great works. I often think of a young man at the college I went to that often wore a sweatshirt that said, "So many books, so little time" on it. He is right! And I want to make sure I read the good ones.
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