No matter how many times we read a book, there will always be something new to notice and learn.
While I was nursing my son, I reread all of Jane Austin’s books.
I had read them all at least once, some twice, but it had been at least ten years or more.
Some I had read in college, which meant we chewed on them and digested them as serious literature. Pencil in hand to underline and jot notes. Some I had read after college. With the same studious and serious attitude as before.
This time through, I found them delightful and humorous. I had never laughed much when reading them before, but this time I found some of them so humorous that I was laughing aloud and thinking that Austin had quite the wit.
Sometimes I even woke up my sleeping son with laughter.
This time through (without a pencil and a literary analysis mindset) I saw over and again that she was making fun of society — their manners, the classes, the rules, the clergy, and so much more. This time I saw a deeper meaning and a little different side. I also noticed more, understood more.
Not only was I older, but I understood life more than I had in college. I had more experience. Had read more books to compare them with. I understood the nineteenth century time-period a bit better. Had seen and experienced more of life and human interactions. And saw that life was much more complicated than I had earlier thought.
But isn’t that the same with other books? When I reread other books again, I see and understand them a little differently. It is like the characters have changed a bit and so have I.
Reading Little House on the Prairie to my children as an adult was a much different experience than reading it as a child. As a child I wanted to be Laura, live as a pioneer, and learn the skills she was learning.
As an adult I still felt joy at meeting Laura again, but trudging through Kansas and huddling next to the stove during the long winter didn’t seem as romantic as before.
I no longer wanted to be her. I saw more themes and undercurrents in the story. Understood the characters better. Especially the adults, which I hadn’t before.
During our absence from one another, I had matured and changed, and so had Laura. I thoroughly enjoyed the books again, but now saw new and different things with new and different eyes.
This is one reason we can read the bible over and over and glean new things. We keep growing and changing. Maturing. Have more life experience. Understand our self and others a little bit more.
As we change, we see new themes. New truths. View the characters with more kindness. See our self more clearly.
We also understand God better. We comprehend the bigger picture of the bible a little bit more. We better understand our self and human nature. We grasp God’s gift of grace, salvation, and love with a little more awe. We may long more for the next world when all things will be restored. We have seen more evil and known more sin.
We revisit our old friends, like Abraham, Jacob, Rahab, Peter, Ruth, Tamar, and Job, and notice that we share many of the same sins, traits, and worries. And yet, we also notice more clearly God’s great love and concern for them and feel comfort and hope for ourselves.
The bible is one of those books I will never master, comprehend in full, or even make sense of. I can read the same psalm every day of the week and find something new to ponder every day. I will find something that amazes me and causes me to inhale sharply with each reading and meditation.
If the bible is that complicated, I know God, His Son, His ways, and the Spirit are so beyond my understanding and ability to pin down and fully absorb. And yet that brings comfort. Security. And excitement that there will always be something to learn and discover each time I pick up God’s Holy Word.
Thanks for stopping by. Keep remembering what’s important.
Theresa
Join the Journey: What amazes you when you reread a book or read the bible.
May link up at Crystal Storms (#HeartEncouragement), Maree Dee (#Grace & Truth), Anita Ojeda (#inspirememonday), InstaEncouagements ((IE Link-Up), and Jeanne Takenaka (#tellhisstory).
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Very very true Theresa👌. It’s the same experience with me too. The older we grow, the deeper is our understanding of the books we read. And the Bible is a book which we can never comprehend in whichever perspective we look at it . Because it is written by the Holy Spirit. The deeper we dig into it , the larger and more varied are the treasures that come forth out of it. And that’s the uniqueness and greatness of this Book.
So true, Saji. There are always treasures to find and apply.
Theresa, I loved this post, you are a kindred spirit! I think of books the same way you mentioned, isn’t it true depending on the season of life we are in, a familiar book comes to us in a different way. So too, with the Bible! Each time visit the different stories there I glean something new, or richer. Thank you!
And it is not just us who enjoy revisiting stories and books. I think of small children who beg for the same book to be re-read to them. 🙂
This is so true. I’ve read Little Women multiple times and identified with different characters each time and got more out of it each time. Biographies and nonfiction open up more on subsequent readings. And the Bible–as you say, we’ll never get all there is so get out of it, but the more we read and learn and grow, the more we’ll understand.
Yes to identifying different readings with different characters. Rereading some books read as a child, I now identify more with an adult in the story. Same with the Bible. I now identify more with characters I didn’t before.
There is one book – Pilgrim at Tinker Creek – that I read over and over. Each time I read it, I learn something new, something I missed in previous readings. I am reading through a new (to me) version of the Bible now. Currently in the Gospels. I love how each time I read a different version, the different vocabulary gives me insights I didn’t have before. Great post!
I recently got a Passion Translation bible. I am enjoying the different translation. The old familiar scriptures you can finish with your eyes closed become new and different and I have to stop and slow down and savor the new pops of insights.
I appreciate your thoughts regarding literature, “During our absence from one another, I had matured and changed. I thoroughly enjoyed the books again, but now saw new and different things with new and different eyes.”
And I appreciate how you applied the same measuring line to the Word of God, “We revisit our old friends, like Abraham, Jacob, Rahab, Peter, Ruth, Tamar, and Job, and notice that we share many of the same sins, traits, and worries. And yet, we also notice more clearly God’s great love and concern for them and feel comfort and hope for ourselves.”
Lisa, it is interesting how we identify and connect with characters. See ourselves in them or maybe our best friend or brother.
I thoroughly enjoyed your thoughts about rereading books. I have found the same thing to be true and even more so with the Bible. Since I blog through the Bible each year, I though I would get to the point where it’s more or less a finished product, something I might leave as is, so I could go one to blogging about other things. But it seems impossible for all the reasons you listed.
And, you’re right, it is quite exciting to see new things each time we read God’s Word. Blessings to you!
Isn’t that exciting, Donna. I remember reading through the bible in church as a teen and thinking now I understand that. Ha ha. And yet there is always something new. I think this never getting to the end of exploring the bible, helps explains why we will be living in God’s presence forever and still discovering things to praise him about.
Theresa, love this analogy! I’ve often had the same experience. Rereading a book brought new things to light and I saw something I hadn’t see before. It’s the same with the Bible, whether I’m reading about God’s commands, understanding His character more, or biblical people and their stories. We can never comprehend everything or read the Bible too much!
It is fun to reread the bible and see new things every time.
Theresa, I loved this. I have had books I’ve read and re-read after a span of years. And you’re right, as we grow in life, our perspectives and understanding also grow and change so we notice different aspects of a story.
And yes, I’ve seen this happen on each read-through of the Bible. I often find something I hadn’t notice before. “When did this verse get put in here?!” Funny how we notice different truths based on what we’re dealing with in life. 🙂
Beautiful photos!
Where we are in life and our current experiences do make a difference on how we read things.
It doesn’t even have to be the whole bible itself. For years I read different children’s bibles to the kids, and on each read through I still learned new things. Gained more perspective.
I’ve read To Kill a Mockingbird about 15 times (12 of those times out loud to students). I see something new each and every time. Really good books are meant to be savored and re-read. I read Gone with the Wind a dozen times as a teen and young adult, but when I reread it eight years ago, I couldn’t get over how immature, selfish, and annoying Scarlet was ;).
Last time I read To Kill a Mockingbird I noticed Atticus Finch a lot more than I ever had before, admiring him as a dad.
I’ve found this to be so true too. I have a few books (mostly nonfiction) that I re-read every few years because I know I’ll get new things out of them each time. With the Bible, it takes me 2-3 years to read through from beginning to end, but with each rotation, I learn something precious about God and his relationship with us.
Such a great post, Theresa. I’m going to feature this at the Grace & Truth Linkup on Friday. It goes so well with the Bias series that I’m doing.
Thanks Lisa. We all have our favorite books and go to books for our mood. My daughter said anytime she needed a good cry she read Black Beauty. And books can be associated with time periods. Some books remind me of trips and good times because of when I read them.
I have really been enjoying your Bias series and learning new things every day.