Good evening. It’s about 11:30pm and with lots of pleasure
from my personal study, I have decided to edit this teaching that I did some
time ago on one of my most cherished topics. I hope you piece together one or
two phrases that will ignite your intellectual stick to further illuminate your
path to dignity.
My last days in the University were rusty. I near called it
a quit before graduating. While contemplating that, I came in contact with two
books (and of course a friend) and then everything changed from my inside out!
Simply I had an epiphany! A mental surge occurred that projected me at least a
decade beyond my then immediate reality.
What happened differently? The magic wand: two books and a
friend!
To buttress this insight I had gotten; I ran into this
remarkable observation by Charlie Jones months later - “Five years from now you
will be pretty much the same as you are today except for two things: the books
you read and the people you get close to.” Boy! I hit another gusher!
Let’s focus on the books you read.
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| Open Books |
One quick way to enhance your value is to develop a reading
culture. And the quickest way to be valuable is to be knowledgeable. When you
become more knowledgeable, you become more valuable. There is no more secret to
self-enhancement beyond this!
It is not good for a
soul to be without knowledge.
One of the greatest problems of any African community around
the world is that we are not a book loving society; as the adage goes: we are
not a book people. An average black man doesn’t like reading except for the
sole purpose of certification. But as much as it is okay to read for schooling
reasons, it’s best to study for mental emancipation or liberation. Mark Twain once
remarked “I will never let my schooling interfere with my education.”
Through knowledge the
righteous will be delivered.
True emancipation is mental emancipation. Opened books
always provide the avid reader with the wings to engage in a flight. Beloved,
you only realize you have the potential to fly, when you begin to access
volumes. There is no alternative to what a reading habit can do to your mental
health.
In the first year of
his reign I, Daniel understood by the books…
A man once found his 15year old son arranging gym tools for
his regular muscle building exercise. He beckon to him and said, “In as much as
it is important to develop your physical muscles.” Then he added, “People who
solely develop their physique always depend and work for people who have learnt
to develop their minds.” Please, pencil down: The limbs will always serve the
mind.
Really you can’t function beyond what you know.
Unfortunately not even God or any deity can help you here! You have got to
develop your mind. And the way to do it is to bury your mind in between pages!
Imagine the looks of a chap that hasn’t eaten possibly for a month; his
depleting energy and frail looks will definitely be obvious. So is it with
someone that hasn’t read a book for a given period; his mind will be void of
deliverables and the might for insightfulness will elude him. What food is to
your stomach is what books are to your mind.
To live above the tides of the age, you have to improve your
mental strength. You can’t solve problems at the same level they were created.
To play globally, read globally. You will influence tomorrow by reading today.
And when you know what kings don’t know, they will come and pitch tent with
you.
So, you may be asking what should I read to begin with:
1. The Bible
Well, I am not being biased here; I believe the most
impactful book to the human mind is the Bible.
The law of the Lord is
perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise
the simple.
Without spending further time here, let’s share the opinion
of two famous American Statesmen on what they have to say about the Bible: Horace
Greeley said “it is impossible to mentally or socially enslave a Bible reading
people” while George Washington added that “it is impossible to rightly govern
the world without God and the Bible”. Wow!
2. Resourceful Books
You are a product of what you read. It’s a kind of garbage-in,
garbage-out process. Reading is a kind of reproductive activity. A social
intercourse, the fusion of two minds (reader and writer) that lead to
production of ideas. Another leader remarked, “What is reading, but silent
conversation!”
For me one way to experience all society: the ancient, the
presence and the future is through the reading of books.
3. Area – Specific Books
You can’t be reading law reports and end-up as a surgeon.
Neither will you spend all your time reading medical books and at the same time
anticipate being a successful solicitor. No! It doesn’t work that way. In line
with this, the poet Ralph Emerson exclaims “a man is known by the books he
reads.” So train your mind for the anticipated ambition you have at heart.
To begin, I suggest the following:
1. Tell Yourself it’s Inevitable
It is inevitable that to be relevant in this knowledge
economy as they call it, then you must be a book fellow. Books liberate you. Once
you learn to read, you will be forever free. As President James Madison said, “Knowledge
will forever govern ignorance.”
2. Seek to Know a Little More
Hunger precedes every feast. Most times all the difference
is a little hunger; a little extra. You must crave knowledge to truly seek the
succour of books. My advice: never again pass a book without at least admiring
the cover. For the proof of desire is in the pursuit of it.
3. Begin with Less Voluminous and Interesting Books
You don’t learn to chew with bones, you begin with fleshy
parts. Start the reading adventure with books that have less volume and
enticing content.
4. Own a Library
A library begins with a table, a chair and a book. It is an
intellectual crime to live in an apartment without having a study space. As
wardrobe is to the body so is a library to the mind; books cloth your mind.
5. Share the Dividend
When you empower others, you are naturally empowered. Don’t hoard
what you have come to know, share and the desire to grow will be unquenchable.
POINT TO RUMINATE ON: Blessed are they that read for they shall lead.
Authored by: ANOINTED ENOH
