Am I the only one put off by the phrase “must-read”? I receive five or six such messages a day with mounting irritation. Nine out of ten I have already noted in my morning reading.
A “must-read” sounds like a parent speaking to a child or a teacher to a student, and I am neither.
‘Must-read’ is a command. What I read I read by choice. The only books I consider absolutely necessary to my being are the great ones. The news does not command my attention unless the event is historic.
I don’t want to live in a ‘must-read’ world and all that pertains to it: the bossiness, the hurry, the impatience, the waste of time, and, especially, the self-importance.
In my world, reading is ‘suggested’ or ‘recommended’ or ‘of interest’ or offered, ‘for your consideration.’ This is a world where manners count, where communication is respectful, and the news is recognized for what it is, twigs floating towards down a river towards the ocean.
I’m shocked at the extent people have succumbed to this bullying. After all, in a world where so much become a ‘must-read,’ what actually should be known by the citizenry get buried beneath wild zig-zag of ‘must-read’ commands.
I’ll reach my 70th birthday in November. And now, more than ever, I realize each day is a gift. Whether it’s a game of golf with friends or trying to tame the puppy with my wife and son, there is no guarantee such joyful moments await me in this world.
Mine is a ‘must-live’ world. And I think the reader knows that to ‘live’ bears a connotation much deeper than to merely exist. The playwright Christopher Fry best described what it is to live:
What is deep, as love is deep. I’ll have
Deeply. What is good, as love is good,
I’ll have well. Then if time and space
Have any purpose, I shall belong to it.*
‘Must-reads’ have no place in this world where plumbing the depths is the measure of a life well-lived. I won’t be held responsible for attending to flotsam and jetsam of Twitter or Facebook, especially if it’s intended to evoke outrage of some kind.
Once again, I will choose what I care about and what I don’t and who. Giving attention is a gift of your whole self, a moment in time that will never be returned to you.
If the above sounds too harsh, too grumpy, please know that I regard deep and hearty laughter among the most precious of life’s moments. But I can well do without the everyday outrages shared daily on social media. I couldn’t agree more with Christopher Fry who, in the same play, endorses laughter as, “The surest touch of genius in creation.”
There is little laughter in the world of ‘must-reads.’ That world is obsessed with anger and outrage. In what I propose as the ‘must-live’ world, outrage is saved for what matters most.
*Christopher Fry, The Lady’s Not for Burning, 1948.
I’m with you, Deal. There is far too much pushiness in this world, and much of what we are being pushed toward should be fled from. The tastes of the world have never been my tastes. I’ve always resisted “best sellers,” for the simple reason that I find them almost always tasteless, if not downright rancid.
I’m just past sixty, myself, but I’ve learned to practice “custody of the eyes” (and mind), and ignore much of what the world insists we “must” wallow in. Life is so much sweeter this way, and it’s so much easier to focus on what really matters, enjoying the grandeur of God’s creation and learning to be the person He made me to be. That’s really the only purpose of this life, which is seldom well-served by “must reads.”
Thanks, Lisa!
On one of our early dates Deal and I had a wonderful conversation about Christopher Fry. I had been fortunate enough to perform in a production of The Lady’s Not For Burning when I was an undergraduate. I couldn’t believe he was familiar with the play and loved the whimsical, beautiful, and at times screwball poetry that inhabited Fry’s world. We decided not long afterwards that we should probably stick together. It was the beginning of our sharing the vision of a similar Life. Thirty two years later we still love Christopher Fry and have added a few more favorites to the list! None of them, however, are “must-reads”. 🙂
What a terrific story Theresa! Love Christopher Fry too………..