The value of reading and writing

THE VALUE OF READING AND WRITING

Cl. Mario D’Couto SDB

            There is a Chinese proverb that goes thus, “The faintest ink is greater than the grandest memory.” In a culture, which has been dominated by SMS, cell phones, computers, laptops and so on, the value of writing seems to be diminishing. Nowadays, many books have gone online too and so today many people prefer reading e –books.

            It may be shockingly surprising to note that there are many children today, who struggle to write – thanks to cell phones, computers, laptops and iPods. Everything has become digital. Technology is good and it has its due place but is only a tool. It is only a means towards achieving a goal or an objective.

            Today, more and more research has shown that children who sit on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Wassup and so on, tend towards dementia. This does not mean to say that we should not use such things. The point is when our lives are ‘governed’ by technology then instead of technology becoming a tool or a means for the human person it would seem that the human person becomes a means for technology. In other words, the human person becomes a slave to technology. 

            Having said that, we could certainly ask ourselves, “What is the value of writing?” Writing has got many positive bearings. In the first place, it forces us to think. In order to write something, we must have something in our minds to write and that is why the ability to think is directly connected to writing. Writing can have many forms. One could write a personal reflection, a religious or newspaper article, a story, a novel or even a joke. It is, therefore, one of the ways by which a person expresses his or her views.

            On a spiritual level, keeping a prayer log or writing one’s daily experiences or reflections in a spiritual diary is also another great incentive for growth. A spiritual diary acts as a great catalyst for spiritual growth for it helps us to look at our past lives and evaluate the present. For priests, religious and seminarians, it could be a great treasure for sermons or talks. Besides, writing one’s own sermon makes it more personal than borrowing someone else’s ideas and just ‘vomiting’ it.

            However, as mentioned earlier, in order for good writing to take place, it is important that one should be a good reader. “Reading maketh a person!” Reading, like writing, has many forms. It includes novels, stories, jokes, fiction or even serious stuff like science, history, philosophy or theology. Today, there is more than enough material for people to read. The ‘e –books’ is a classic example. Hence, it is important to make good use of the sources we have.

            Reading brings in ideas and writing is one of the ways of expressing them. I think that we should thank God for these two gifts which has made us ‘human’ for it was  these simple things that has taken us leaps and bounds in the history of development. So read and write!


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