Comprehension, Communication and Choice.

   I've often heard it said through the years that reading unlocks doors, opens up new worlds and worlds of opportunity, and other expressions like these.  It's interesting, however, that for so many children, reading itself must first be accessed.  For the students in the case studies we read about, they thankfully had parents who intervened when this was not happening.  It's a reminder to me that I must be committed to staying in communication with my parents and doing everything I can to create an atmosphere where they are comfortable approaching me as well.  A child's education is truly most successful when it is a complete triad of effort: the student, the teacher, and the parents. Everyone involved has a unique and invaluable vantage point, and understanding this with appreciation and humility can clear the way for the child to succeed while catching potential problems early.
   
   For the student, critical keys are freedom to choose and pursue areas of interest while having the tools to understand and process what they are reading.  Teachers are pivotal in assuring that both of these are made available to the students.  Being aware, in touch, and willing to listen, though requiring extra effort and energy, guarantee students have the opportunity to thrive.  Moreover, this communicates to a child that his teacher cares, not just about his getting good grades or test scores, but about him, and that his interests and needs matter.  Students who know they are cared for want to try for that teacher and for themselves.  This type of caring strengthens not just reading skills, but the student's confidence and self-esteem, which has far-reaching effects beyond the classroom.

I've been thinking more about reading and rest.  I have several books currently "in process" (typical), strategically stationed at different places throughout my day, where they carefully fulfill a specific purpose for specific times.  As I was reading my just-before-I-turn-off-the-lights book last night, currently a book on mothering by Angela Thomas Phar, I was struck by a quote she uses by Amy Carmichael that says, "In acceptance lieth peace." Angela Pharr follows up this quote with the comment, "What a perfect description of rest."  As I pondered that for a few minutes, I realized how perfectly that describes reading.  Regardless of the book- spiritual, leisure, informative, cooking, educational,etc.- just the very act of sitting down to read demands acceptance of however things are at that moment in my own world, in order to turn my attention to the words on the page and enter the world the author has created. In this letting go is peace.

I find this peace in every literary step I take through the day  From my Bible and devotional when I wake up that refreshes and equips, to the book I mentioned earlier at bedtime.  I am even discovering in my first endeavor into audio books that listening to The Shallows, What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, provides a peaceful ride through Houston traffic to work in the morning.  Even having to sit down in order to catch up on class readings, with an out-of-control to-do list pressing on me like a merciless taskmaster, is restful because the priority of school forces other things aside and I must focus.

Finally, there's the joyful rest I've enjoyed through Wonder. Not only is this book a delight to read, but the very story of Augie is one of acceptance and rest.  Augie is faced with unimaginable challenge that may change, but will not end, yet embodies acceptance of these and so lives a life that overflows with kindness and courage and peace.

It's an amazing thing that we can learn so much from books, both from what they offer inside their pages as well as in their very existence in our lives.

How does literacy provide rest? I am being reminded that throughout my life literacy has, in fact, been a direct avenue to finding rest.  This has been especially true when rest has been most elusive, whether from circumstances or just my own frame of mind.

To sit down (just that by itself!) with a good book in a favorite chair, or outside on the patio with a breeze blowing, near the fireplace in the winter, or under crisp sheets at bed time, is always a giant exhale for me.  With life and family and responsibilities running at what feels like a million miles a minute, to stop and enter another world through the pages of a book, is to immerse myself in rest. Certain books certainly do this more readily than others, but any book is a diversion, a veering off the beaten path, to the unexplored and new discovery of whatever lies down that road.  Just like exploring small towns along the way on a summer road trip, a pause with a book at any time of day   refreshes and leaves us changed.

Writing, too, provides it's own unique rest.  While reading provides this through what we discover and take in, writing does so by what we discover within and give out.  For me, that has been through creative writing, reflective writing, spiritual writing, relational writing, and even sporadic attempts at poetic writing.  When life has been difficult or a relationship particularly challenging or hurtful, it's easy to feel stuck, especially when emotions are deeply engaged or running high.  Getting these feelings and thoughts out on paper (or a screen) is often an effective way to dislodge the obstruction so thoughts can run freely again.  It is a tool of release and a freeing from what can be binding.

Our own literacy stories offer rest by providing a record of where we've been, how we've grown or changed, and how far we've come. As we look back over past books read or peruse old letters or journals, we can discover peace and encouragement to face whatever is in front of us thanks to reminders of what is behind.