Faith + Reason = Truth

Local library + Audible.com + iPod + daily commute = more book "reading" over the past year or so than I've done since I was in college and basically read books for my "job" as a student.  The Arlington Public Library system has lots of branches, all of which have a decent selection of audio books on cd and cassette.  I used to just listen to these through the car or truck stereo, which was fine.  But I realized that I was more focused on listening when I wore headphones, so I started using personal cd players and an old Sony Walkman for cassettes, which was fine.  Then, after I finally got my first iPod this past spring, I started ripping the audiobook cd's into iTunes and having entire books on the iPod, which I ALWAYS carry with me, so I could listen in the car, walking through downtown, sitting outside or in the food court for lunch, lying in bed at night, anytime, any place.

So going back to the books to which I've listened, all unabridged, there have been classics such as St. Augustine's Confessions, Thucydides's The History of the Pelopponesian War (I'm actually only 8 hours into this almost 30 hour extravaganza), several books each by the religious historians Karen Armstrong and Elaine Pagels, Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, Freakonomics, a few books by G.K. Chesterton, popular science books, general philosophy books, you name it.  Hundreds of hours, months or even years worth of reading time (I'm one of those slow and thorough readers that re-reads passages to absorb and fully understand every word rather than just skimming for the general concepts and main points, which carries over to rewinding and re-listening to passages when necessary).  Seriously, I have listened to more books over the past year than in several previous years worth of reading combined.  And I LOVE my daily commute now, because it's about the only time when I can read for long stretches of time uninterrupted by household duties, family obligations, work, tv, etc.!

This morning, I commenced listening to the New Testament of the Bible, 16 cd's of about 70 minutes apiece, with the Old Testament waiting in the wings on the library's bookshelf (another 48 cd's for that baby - and did I mention that all but 2 of the audiobooks I've read have been free except for a few dollars in late fees, since I checked all of them out from the library?).  I'm about 40 minutes into Matthew, and I can honestly say I know more about that gospel as of right now than in all of my previous Catholic upbringing.  You see, when you read the Bible, you tend to skim over sections containing long lists of crazy-sounding names, or places you can't pronounce, or archaic styles or writing.  But when you listen to and concentrate on every single word, you get the whole picture, and it comes together in its entirety, the way it was meant to be communicated in the first place.

One of the things I listened to this morning was Jesus instructing people about prayer, telling them that when they pray, to avoid lengthy words and sentences and so forth; rather, open your heart to God, for He already knows what's in it, and all that needs to be said is the Our Father.  Those are the only words we need to worry about when we pray, about 60-70 words total, with the rest being in our hearts.  Just something to keep in mind when you know you need to communicate with God but are frustrated because you can't find the "right" words to use.  Don't worry about it - He already knows.  But you DO need to make the effort to at least open up the lines for the unspoken conversation to take place.  And that isn't too terribly much to ask, is it?