When It Comes to Reading

(Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Two Girls Reading)

"First, by a true desire to be taught by them (authors), and to enter into their thoughts. To enter into theirs, observe, not to find your own expressed by them. . . . at least be sure that you go to the author to get at his meaning, not to find yours." -John Ruskin, Sesame and Lilies

Thought-provoking, isn't it? Obviously, we want to be critical readers, listeners, and thinkers, but I think all too often we read with closed minds. We think we know all there is to know or believe about a subject. Instead, let us read with humility, hoping and expecting to learn something we didn't know. Like the Bereans, may we always compare the author's opinons with Scripture's truth.