Old Books, New Insights
If you’re reading this message, there’s a good chance you have some books at home about personal development and spiritual growth. Some of you have lots of these books, and you’re buying new ones all the time.
Do you ever go to your book shelves and browse through books you read 5 or 10 years ago? Do you ever re-read some of these books in their entirety? Re-reading books can bring many surprises.
To begin with, you may find that some passages in your “old” books that didn’t mean much to you years ago now take on more importance. In some instances, you will grasp concepts that went “over your head” the first time you read the book. You might also find that you no longer agree with everything you underlined or highlighted when you initially read the book.
Here’s another fascinating discovery you might make — the phrases you underlined during your initial reading are not the phrases you would underline now. Some key passages escaped your attention years ago, but now you consider them quite valuable.
Why all these surprises from the same book? You make new discoveries because you’re not the same person you were when you read the book 5 or 10 years ago. You see the world differently now. You’ve gained insights from your life experiences and from further reading that you’ve done.
Of course, the same principle applies to any audio programs you own. Listen to them again and you’ll hear things in a new way. You may disagree with some of the things you previously accepted as accurate. It’s likely you will understand the program better than you did when you listened to it years ago. You may not have been ready at that time to absorb certain portions of the message.
Many of us re-read spiritual texts such as The Bible or The Bhagavad Gita. When we read these books over and over, we inevitably gain a deeper understanding of their meaning. Yet we realize there is no point where we can say, “I’ve figured the whole thing out. There is nothing more for me to learn from this book.” We can always dig deeper in that same well, and it’s likely that we’ll continue to find valuable treasures.
There is nothing wrong with reading new books that catch your attention. I do so all the time. But I highly recommend that you go back to your book shelves to pick up an “old” book. You’ll learn a lot about yourself and how you’re progressing on your spiritual journey.
– Jeff Keller
© 2008