One of the most popular storybooks when my kids were too young to read was a treasury of farmyard tales. It wasn’t just preferred by my kids; I loved it too, not least because there was an accompanying CD of all the stories, so I could push play and find a few minutes’ space to accomplish pressing tasks. We didn’t have the book long before one child in particular could sit down and “read” it to herself (or a guest), reciting the selected story as she turned the selected pages. This led to much hilarity, particularly for an unsuspecting audience; the book’s publisher is a British company, and the CD was narrated in (surprise) a British accent, and my dear girl also “read” in a British accent.1
In a similar fashion, a few weeks ago I read in quick succession a couple short books comprised of the letters and journal of a writer who utilized unorthodox capitalization as a method of emphasis, similar in some ways to many of our modern interactions on the internet.2 For several days after I read these, I found myself drafting emails and texts with equally unusual capitalization for the sake of emphasis, quite without intentional effort. It was only upon my customary proofreading that I noticed what I had done.
These two unrelated events are moderately humorous and relatively harmless; however, they illustrate a topic that’s been on my mind recently: The things we read and hear affect and influence us, often to a greater extent than we realize but also without our notice. That makes me question the wisdom of constant background noise, whether the streaming TV shows and podcasts available through our phones, or the literal TV and radio from preceding generations.
A couple verses I’ve been mulling over related to this topic:
-Philippians 4:8 (of course; it’s an “oldie but a goodie”, and so very relevant (and convicting) to many things): “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” I wouldn’t think that anything fitting this list would have any undesirable influence on our hearts, minds, and words.
-Psalm 101:3a: “I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless.” This recognizes that we should be making intentional choices and utilizing the judgment God gave us to discern between good and evil when it comes to our reading and viewing material.
-Psalm 119:37: “Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.” Our personal responsibility is not negated by this verse; rather, I see it as an acknowledgement that we’re all humans living in a fallen world and inhabiting fallen bodies. Apart from the work of the Lord, our good intentions are only that; we need His help to put them into practice and act on them.
There are so many books to read, podcasts and music to hear, movies and shows to watch, and I’m not saying we should abstain from all of them. I do think we need to be aware of their influence, and wisely discern what is worth putting into our brains and allowing to influence us.
1Usborne’s The Complete Book of Farmyard Tales; “The Naughty Sheep” was most memorable.
2Helene Hanff’s 84, Charing Cross Road and The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street; these will make a Recent Reads appearance eventually.