Where Have All The Classics Gone!

When I was a small child I can remember several grown ups reading to me and my sisters.  Our mother would take us to the community library and we would pick out a whole stack of books for her to read to us.  I remember many of Dr. Seuss' books like The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham and stories like The Little Engine That Could, Little Bear by Else Minarik, Caps for Sale, and The Story About Ping.  One of my favorite books our step-grandmother would read to us every night was The Golden Children’s Bible (I think that was the name).  It had all the wonderful stories of the Bible with great illustrations. In elementary school we learned to read from the Dick and Jane series that many of you who were born between the 1930’s and 1970’s might remember.  They were great and we learned to read, unlike many children today. 

On my own, when I was a little older, I remember reading Stewart Little, Charlotte’s Web, Little House on the Prairie series, the Nancy Drew mystery series (which started in 1930): The Secret of the Old Clock, The Hidden Staircase, and The Bungalow Mystery, to mention a few.  In high school for classes, of course, we read the plays of Shakespeare's like Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, and Julius Caesar, and some of the ancient classics like The Iliad and The Odyssey.  I could go on and on but I don't want to bore you, just inspire you to look at some of the great works of the past.  It took great effort to wade through the King James version of the Bible and such works of Homer, Aristotle, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Charles Dickens, Sir Conan Doyle, etc..  Often this was because the writing style and words have become obsolete.  In school our teachers were teaching us to understand and value these works that have come down through history.

These classics give us clues about history and heritage of many peoples.  We learn what it was like to live in these different ages and countries.  These writings tell us what was going on in their worlds as far as religious thought, art, cultural differences, morals and mores, scientific thought, etc.. 

I must admit it is much easier to read the more modern books that children are reading today.  The Harry Potter series sold like crazy and many boys who found it difficult or boring to read were suddenly interested in reading.  My children liked the Apple Paperbacks from the Scholastic company in the '80s.  These were usually stories about kids, for kids, with topics about family and school and everything in between that would interest children.  

As I was looking at the reading trends of today I noticed first of all, everything is going digital!  Kids have i-Phones, i-Pods, i-Pads, Kindle and computers from which to read e-books and other materials on the internet.  It makes me wonder if a place called the library will become obsolete?  

What are children reading these days?  I checked this out on the internet and came up with several interesting trends according to this website.  Dystopian (the opposite of utopian) fiction is becoming popular.  (I had to look up the definition of dystopian.)  Books about popular characters in books, T.V. shows, and movies are big sellers.  Humor and mythology-based fantasy are also trend-setting topics.  Picture books are not as popular because parents seem to want their children to read more difficult books to challenge their reading skills, whereas some adults are leaning toward young adult literature.  Diary and journal style books are also interesting to children because they are usually about children their age and the daily problems they have in common.  One genre that is starting to become popular (uber-popular: had to look this up too) is the paranormal romance stories.

As you can see, literature that people read today is quite different than that of generations ago.  I guess it is a good thing the schools still have many of the classics as required reading to graduate.  I found a site that shows the list of required reading for high school students in public school.  

We want to take the easy way and be entertained but we must not allow ourselves to become lazy in our self-discipline and thinking and let these classical writings fall by the wayside.  The classics must never be forgotten!  "Of  making many books there is no end," King Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 12:12.  We need to accept the best of the new without neglecting the best of the old.

Power To Be Generous

Did you ever wonder why there were leftovers when Jesus fed all those people?  He fed over five thousand at one time and over four thousand another time.  Each time there were several baskets full of leftover bread and fish.

We were always taught to eat all our food, "waste not, want not", as the saying goes.  My grandmother always told us to eat all our food because there were starving people in Africa.  I always wondered how my eating all my food would help them.  Maybe I could send my food to them and then I wouldn't have to eat it, I childishly thought.  I also taught my children to eat what was put before them and be thankful they had food.  

Jesus was not trying to say it's alright to waste food by these two miracles.  He was showing his compassion by providing for the physical needs of the crowd and showing his power from God and faith in God to supply the necessities of life.

Well, that's my thoughts on that subject.  Hope it gave you "food" for thought!

My Mission Statement

 Well, this is my first and only attempt at blogging and sending my writings out into cyberspace.  Being a fifty-year old might have its drawbacks, but bear with me.

Due to the partial urging of my husband and cleaning out old files, I'm starting this blog to display my writings.  When I was in my early thirties I took a writing course and had 10 lessons that required 10 stories.  I will try to post all or at least some of these.  I have also taken tons of notes with ideas for stories and articles in my lifetime.  The topics are as varied as can be because my interests are varied.