The problem of today is this: we think reading, like reading this text, is a mark of intelligence; in reality, a recording of details is a reflection of a mind that easily forgets — a consciousness that is breaking down and thus needs to be fixed.
This is why illiteracy is even a myth; oral societies could decode reality without putting them in alphabets — which are just signs. Humility is the first step to learning and the peak of wisdom is to know who assembled you and worship him.
Illiteracy is a myth. A person who ‘cannot read a book’, can discern — read — his body and surroundings. The person has just not been indoctrinated to a bookish code. In fact all of us are illiterate to a certain extent. And this truth is clear if you ponder on this question: Can you read Arabic or Chinese or syriac or sanskrit?
When I read, I don’t puff up myself , “I am now peforming the peak of mental powers.” When I peruse a page, I affirm that I am reading because there is something truly wrong with me — which needs to be fixed. And this gifted way of communication that I long to deliver me from the torture and vanity of reading and writing is the spiritual one — only availed by Jesus. To the introspective mind, reading is a provocation to know God.
Texts are useful because of this fact: Reading is a way of humbling the reader.The pride of atheists, who claim to be almost omniscient, is fed by their bookishness. This is why ‘peer reviewed paper’ has become a mantra among naturalists.
Written studies are being exalted as the centrepiece of reality, even proving whether the existence of a beginner of life is possible or not. Illiterate societies were not perfect and were very bigoted — just like our computerized age. But the ancients perceived the reality of God because they were not contaminated with the idolatry of bookishness. The human conscience can just decode the existence of God — which is the highest wisdom possible.
joyninn 