The pope is right: Great books can make good people

One primary purpose of religion is to help people become fully human, which means tuning our heads, hearts and spirits to the shimmering presence of the divine in the world and to the idea that each of us is made in the image of the divine.

Various faith traditions, of course, offer different paths for this task, but common among them is helping people be aware of gaps in their knowledge and understanding of the world so they can more fully appreciate the Creator and each other.

Pope Francis spoke about this matter recently when he wrote a letter to future priests in which he emphasized the importance of reading -- especially, as this article from Vatican News reports -- "reading novels and poems as part of one’s path to personal maturity."

Reading still takes place using printed books, but it has moved to an online experience for many people, and it worries me that in some ways online reading may not allow the reader to draw as deeply from the words as when they are stationary on a printed page. That worry may be unfounded but I find it true for me, who learned to read in the B.C. era -- Before Computers.

In any case, Pope Francis is right to encourage priests and others to plant themselves in the ideas found in good writing, whether that's fiction or nonfiction.

As the story to which I linked you above notes, "Francis aims to encourage 'a renewed love for reading' and above all 'to propose a radical change of course' in the preparation of candidates for the priesthood, so that more space is given to reading literary works. Because literature can educate 'the hearts and minds of pastors' to 'the free and humble exercise of our use of reason' and to 'a fruitful recognition of the variety of human languages,' thus broadening human sensitivity and leading to greater spiritual openness."

One question for priests in training and for the rest of us is this: How do we find time to read? One answer is by making reading a higher priority than playing video games, watching mind-numbing TV shows, falling down social media rabbit holes and shopping for stuff we don't need.

The pontiff says as much in his letter when he writes that a good book can "provide an oasis that keeps us from other choices that are less wholesome." And surely passing on dis- and misinformation on social media ranks as a "less wholesome" activity than reading a great novel or even some of the theologically oriented books I review and recommend here on the blog.

And let's not forget about reading poetry. At my congregation, we celebrate poets once a year with "Poetry Night," which happened just a few weeks ago as part of our "Front Porch" concert series, and we were reminded again about the fabulous variety and skill of poets from our area.

So good for Pope Francis for emphasizing the humanizing the role that literature and all good writing can play in creating not just great priests but, more broadly, well-rooted and rounded humanity. Now quit reading this and pick up a good book, please -- even some of the ones I've written, if it comes to that.

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WHICH OF THE MANY CHRISTIANITIES DO THEY MEAN?

Here is a good piece from a woman who teaches law at the University of Pennsylvania arguing persuasively that if Christian Nationalists really want the U.S. to be Christian, they have an obligation to tell us which of the many varieties of Christianity they mean. She includes this great quote from James Madison, who wrote the First Amendment: “Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other religions, may establish with the same ease any sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other sects?” A majority of the U.S. population has identified as Christian since the beginning (though the percentage is shrinking), but the term "Christian" includes lots of people who don't agree with each other about matters theological.

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P.S.: My boyhood friend from India, Markandey Katju, has written this column about the staying power of history. He included me (though his description of me could use a bit of reworking) and asked me to post it here. So I am.