I winced a bit when I read this, realizing I don\u2019t always approach my reading with great expectation. I am often guilty of using my reading as a daily sleeping pill. What a waste! I was further convicted of this as I read the portion of the book on syntopical reading[2]<\/a>. How will I ever pull the best out of resources if I am not approaching them as a \u201cdemanding reader,\u201d with expectations of repayment for my time? I should be approaching my reading with as much tenacity as I approached the books I read as a child. Though the repayment expectation is different, my posture should remain the same. I may be surprised by the treasures that lie in the material I am now reading. I need to add some perseverance and tenacity to my reading\u2026I need to read with grit.<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Reading with Questions.<\/strong><\/p>\n Adler challenges our lack of questions. In fact, he proposes that every reading experience should be a discovery process as we seek answers to major questions about our reading.[4]<\/a> For me, this is one of the reasons the chapters on syntopical reading are so helpful. Perhaps I never outgrew the toddler phase, but the more I read and learn, the more I realize I don\u2019t<\/em> know. This leads to more reading and discovery. Adler\u2019s explanation of how to pull the best out of all our simultaneous reading is priceless.<\/p>\n As I enter this program, I am doing my best to approach reading and research wide-eyed and full of questions. I can\u2019t wait to see where these questions will lead\u2026perhaps to some of the powerful, God-dreamed pictures I now see in my mind\u2019s eye\u2026<\/p>\n _________________________________________<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren,\u00a0How to Read a Book<\/em>\u00a0(New York: Touchstone, 1972),<\/em> 45.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Ibid, 307.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Grit-definition-770x470.jpg\")
<\/a>\u201cWhether you manage to keep awake or not depends in large part on your goal in reading. If your aim in reading is to profit from it \u2013 to grow somehow in mind or spirit \u2013 you have to keep awake. That means reading as actively as possible. It means making an effort \u2013 an effort for which you expect to be repaid.\u201d<\/em>[1]<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/questions.jpeg\")
<\/a>I am sure all parents are familiar with the rite of passage that is the perpetual \u201cwhy?\u201d of the toddler years.[3]<\/a> In an article from Harvard Business Review, <\/em>200 clients with children were surveyed, and they responded that 70-80% of their children\u2019s conversation were questions compared to 15-25% of their own conversations. It seems that as we enter adulthood and the demand to have answers grows, we stop asking questions.<\/p>\n