Reading is power and we can have power if we read.
-- Author Unknown

A 2002 survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Endowment for the Arts revealed that only 46.7% of the U.S. population reads literature (novels, short stories, plays, etc.). Of that 47%, roughly 57% had read a book of any kind in the past year compared to over 60% ten years ago. The study further presented that men read less than women; Hispanics and African-Americans read less than whites; and teenagers abhor picking up a book as opposed to talking on a cell phone, watching television, surfing the web, or playing a video game, all of which cater to and generate shorter attention spans and immediate forms of gratification.

Of course the survey isn’t talking about readers of the “Thought...,.” Each of us is an avid and diligent reader.

Hey, who laughed?

If you’re not reading, you’re brain is a flat as a pancake. Reading is the single best way to build up the left hemisphere of the brain which is the part of the brain that is in charge of our verbal processing and analytical ability. The more we read, think about, and reflect on what we read, for example, the greater the strength of the neural pathways that develop, strengthen, and increase brain power.

Reading, unlike watching television or playing a video game, requires a greater measure of active attention and engagement thus increasing intellectual ability and interests. In their study, the Census Bureau and Endowment for the Arts found that readers are far more likely than nonreaders to participate in volunteer and charity work as well as visit art museums, performing arts events, and ballgames. While this may or may not be true – given the interests of the surveyor – just being a part of such an elite group should make you want to finish that copy of Nietzsche’s “Beyond Good and Evil.”

Or not.

Seriously, if you’re not reading, you’re missing quite a bit. Though not a literary venture, in your local newspaper each day, lies news and information about the world outside your door. In the newspaper you’ve got news about a never-ending war and its impending impact on your safety and security. There’s information about presidential candidates whose messages are watered down and more of the same and others whose approach to politics will actually and positively change the state of the nation. And, your local newspaper will tell you that although the crime rate in your city is at an all-time low, the crimes being committed are those most heinous. If you’re not at least reading the newspaper, how can you stay abreast of current events and make some sense of the world in which you live? Where’s the power in that?

If you haven’t picked up a good book lately, shame on you; you have no idea the wealth of knowledge, entertainment, and experience you’re forfeiting. There are fiction tales that take you away and nonfiction books that make your current station more livable. There are a plethora of short, one-sitting reads; books that take weeks to read; and books you never want to put down. There are children’s books that make all problems solvable and your heart warm again; and mysteries that keep you guessing and lying awake at night from either fear or sheer delight at the meanderings of a great writer.

There’s the “Good Book,” or the Bible, either in King James’ version, the New International Version (NIV), the American Standard Version, the Message, Darby Translation, or any number of other versions suited for your taste and translation. Whichever your choice to read, talk about power!

All say reading is fundamental and that to hide something from someone, place it in a book. Let’s be among the 47% - 57% of Americans who do read and let our power ring eternal!

Sadiqqa © 2007