I love reading. I always have. Mama Ina Mae gave me my first Nancy Drew book in 2nd grade and took me to the library in town as a special treat. I would check out the Trixie Belden books, Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys by the stack. I loved a good mystery. I was frequently caught reading past my bedtime, under the covers and with a flashlight. "Just a few more pages" or "one chapter more" often meant I was tired in the morning.
Random Acts of Reading... include the "rabbit holes" we click and follow on the internet... and the random magazines at the hair salon or physician's office. Unplanned reading leads to unexpected learning and easy entertainment. Can you even imagine a world without the written word and books. I can't. Written languages is a priceless part of any culture.
I thought of two Biblical examples of "random acts of reading". One was King Belshazzar, in the book of Daniel 5, who read judgement in the handwriting on the wall. The second example was Jesus writing something unexpected in the sand that kept those around them from stoning a woman. The passage is in the book of John.
"This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” -John 8:6-7
I have always wondered what exactly Jesus wrote. Did he name names? Did we list sins? We don't know. In both passages, onlookers took in the unexpected readings on the wall and in the sand.
Christmas is coming with letters and cards surprising us with each trip to the mailbox. Delightful random acts of reading, that help us catch up with old friends and family members.
Today, I am grateful for random acts of reading.
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