I'll let you in on a secret: I don't read books. No, I'm not illiterate. I'm ADHD, and one of the ways it manifests itself in me is that I lack the ability to concentrate and absorb a story whenever I'm reading a long text. I may be able to finish a chapter with good recall, but shortly thereafter, I'll realize that I've finished another 5 or 6 pages with absolutely no recollection of the words I've just read... so I have to flip back in the book to the last thing I remember. It's really frustrating and not enjoyable at all, so I've given up on reading books. I have no trouble reading & recalling information from newspapers or magazines because the articles are much shorter.
Multimedia is an entirely different matter. Of course I have no trouble paying attention during a movie unless it has Nicolas Cage or some equally annoying over-actor. I have no trouble concentrating on the spoken word (except for weekly conference calls at work, and who doesn't?), so I also enjoy books on tape/CD. And when I'm on a family road trip, sometimes my wife reads out loud while I drive.
During one such drive, she read me The Da Vinci Code. I liked the book. From a Christian perspective, I especially like the premise that Jesus Christ may have been married and conceived a child. Jesus was a Jew, and to be an unmarried male Jew in his 30's would have been very unusual. In fact, my reading of the scriptures doesn't address his marital state, which lends credibility to the argument that perhaps he was married (since being unmarried would have been more unusual, and therefore more likely to be addressed). I personally believe that Christ was both God and man, and one of the reasons He became man was to experience life as a man, with all of its joys, sorrows, experiences, and temptations. I can think of no other experience that would make Christ more "man" than marriage. This concept doesn't undermine my beliefs at all.
To many Christians, though, this book really shakes their faith. This is from an email exchange with a community group leader at North Point and friend of mine:
The reason I stopped reading it [The Da Vinci Code] is basically due to my personality. I am VERY easily swayed when somebody offers me evidence. And, I don't go to the next step to explore the topic further and understand other evidence. I get too bored and give up. However, I know that there is a lot of contradicting evidence to the things he proposes in the book, from sources that I trust. I've researched some of it on the web. Since I trust these people, (Max Lucado, Charles Stanley, the Bible, etc...) it's hard for me to read something that, to me, totally contradicts my beliefs. To me, it's a very dangerous slope to get involved with things that contradict the Bible, even from a strictly educational perspective. I can't separate the two in my mind. Of course, that's because I believe the Bible is completely infallible. It's hard for me to believe that God would let a book (the Bible) be so misleading for so many years and that this "evidence" hasn't ever really reached the mainstream. The Bible, along with prayer, is how he communicates with us. Why would he choose for it to be incorrect??And yes, I find it disappointing that someone wouldn't pursue an idea because it contradicts their existing beliefs, especially one who has a position of leadership within the church. Such individuals choose to live a life of self-imposed ignorance.
And now to the real point of today's blog.... with my parents visiting, my wife and I got an unusual reprieve from bedtime duties and decided to go on a date last night. After dinner at Bahama Breeze, we went to see The Da Vinci Code. I was impressed at how closely the movie mirrored the story line of the book. Two thumbs up.
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