By Barb Arland-Fye
Editor
As my college roommates slept in their rooms in our rental house on campus, I sat in an empty bathtub in the bathroom immersed in a thriller novel. I couldn’t put the book down and didn’t want to disturb my roommates, so reading in the bathtub was a good compromise. That memory reemerged last weekend after I finished reading the novel “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen. This time, I didn’t have to finish the book in the bathtub!
Reading has been a passion since early childhood, when my siblings and I cuddled up around my mom to listen to her read classic and contemporary children’s stories and poems. Choosing books to purchase from Scholastic Book Club flyers was among my great joys in grade school, exceeded only by the arrival of the books! During high school, I bonded with my dad over historical fiction. My love affair with reading literature continued into my adulthood and as a parent, reading to my two sons.
Finishing “Pride and Prejudice” seemed like a guilty pleasure when time is a precious commodity to divvy up among the demands in my life. Pope Francis’ Letter on the Role of Literature in Formation (https://tinyurl.com/3p2vamz3) provides a new perspective and encourages my passion.
In reflecting on the original focus of his letter (priestly formation), he realized “this subject also applies to the formation of all those engaged in pastoral work, indeed of all Christians. What I would like to address here is the value of reading novels and poems as part of one’s path to personal maturity.”
The Holy Father’s insights make his letter essential reading for all of us yearning to become the one body of Christ, appreciating that each part is valuable and connected. Reading literature helps us begin, with a look from within. Pope Francis says, “… in moments of weariness, anger, disappointment or failure, when prayer itself does not help us find inner serenity, a good book can help us weather the storm until we find peace of mind.” Reading helps us to “grow inwardly, so that each new work we read will renew and expand our worldview.”
He enjoys reading “the tragedians, because we can all embrace their works as our own, as expressions of our own personal drama. In weeping for the fate of their characters, we are essentially weeping for ourselves, for our own emptiness, shortcomings and loneliness.”
Argentinean writer Jorge Luis Borges’ definition of literature as “listening to another person’s voice” resonates with Pope Francis. “We must never forget how dangerous it is to stop listening to the voice of other people when they challenge us! We immediately fall into self-isolation; we enter into a kind of “spiritual deafness,” which has a negative effect on our relationship with ourselves and our relationship with God …”
How many of us are willing to confess that we listen only to the voices of people who share our worldview? Reading literature may be part of the antidote! “As these stories awaken faint echoes of our own inner experiences, we become more sensitive to the experiences of others,” Pope Francis says. “We step out of ourselves to enter into their lives, we sympathize with their struggles and desires, we see things through their eyes and eventually we become companions on their journey.”
Author Jane Austen (1775-1817) lived long before I did and the lives of the characters in “Pride and Prejudice” were far removed from mine. I didn’t warm up to them or the story line until investing time and patience in the novel. They did become companions on the journey. I can’t wait to meet other companions that join me on the journey in the next novel I read. Thank you, Pope Francis!
(Contact Barb Arland-Fye at arland-fye@davenportdiocese.org)
