What, then, can we learn from literature?
Let us now go back to the question we asked earlier (What can we learn from literature?)
and attempt an answer based on our definition. First of all, because literature is concrete and
appeals to our senses, literature can help wake up our senses. It can help us to really look at and
see the things around us. It can help us to really listen and hear, smell, taste and touch. In
Robert Frost’s, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," the poet takes a few moments to
appreciate the quiet beauty of a wooded field slowly filling with snow. My wife once mentioned
to a friend as they sat outdoors that the clouds were particularly beautiful that day. Her friend
looked up and said, "Just clouds"--her senses were sleeping. My wife's family, as she grew up,
would often take a few minutes during a rainstorm to simply sit and listen to the sound of the
falling rain. Literature can encourage us in the midst of our frantic twentieth century lives to
slow down. It can teach us to savor our experience, to take in, reflect on and appreciate the
beauty around us. God has given us both our senses and a beautiful world full of “all things
richly to enjoy.” Christ said He came that we might have life, and have it to the full.
Has literature woken up your senses? Surely this honors God and has great value!
Since literature appeals to our feelings as well as our senses, it can enrich our emotional
life. Lyric poetry in particular celebrates such great lyric subjects as love and friendship. The
emotional high points in our lives are thus captured and explored. But also our feelings at low
points such as separation and death can find relief through expression in literature. The Psalms,
the Song of Solomon, Lamentations and the book of Job are all excellent examples of this. My
former classmate and long-time professor of Old Testament, Tremper Longman, has co-authored
What, then, can we learn from literature?
Let us now go back to the question we asked earlier (What can we learn from literature?)
and attempt an answer based on our definition. First of all, because literature is concrete and
appeals to our senses, literature can help wake up our senses. It can help us to really look at and
see the things around us. It can help us to really listen and hear, smell, taste and touch. In
Robert Frost’s, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," the poet takes a few moments to
appreciate the quiet beauty of a wooded field slowly filling with snow. My wife once mentioned
to a friend as they sat outdoors that the clouds were particularly beautiful that day. Her friend
looked up and said, "Just clouds"--her senses were sleeping. My wife's family, as she grew up,
would often take a few minutes during a rainstorm to simply sit and listen to the sound of the
falling rain. Literature can encourage us in the midst of our frantic twentieth century lives to
slow down. It can teach us to savor our experience, to take in, reflect on and appreciate the
beauty around us. God has given us both our senses and a beautiful world full of “all things
richly to enjoy.” Christ said He came that we might have life, and have it to the full.
Has literature woken up your senses? Surely this honors God and has great value!
Since literature appeals to our feelings as well as our senses, it can enrich our emotional
life. Lyric poetry in particular celebrates such great lyric subjects as love and friendship. The
emotional high points in our lives are thus captured and explored. But also our feelings at low
points such as separation and death can find relief through expression in literature. The Psalms,
the Song of Solomon, Lamentations and the book of Job are all excellent examples of this. My
former classmate and long-time professor of Old Testament, Tremper Longman, has co-authored
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