We've heard it before, haven't we??

• Dumb as a box of rocks

• Not the brightest crayon in the box

• A few fries short of a Happy Meal (a box, inside a bag)

• A couple sandwiches short of a lunchbox (Jethro Bodine from the Beverly Hillbillies)

What's up with the box??

Well, I'm not the brightest, sharpest, nor likely best informed.

Yet, I do not want to just believe what someone may happen to 'tweet', what someone repeats, or what is highlighted by MSNBC ...or any other media source, for that matter.

I'd like to think that by asking questions, a person can look at something more in depth ...and possibly formulate their ideas to better appreciate the facts surrounding them.

I believe the starting point for being informed, is by reading the Bible ...the truths written within, being a foundation for distinguishing things of substance and value.

Some of you may think this is silly ...and that I am preoccupied with the Bible, and often can think of nothing else.

Well, most everyone wants to share with others ...and though it may not be their wealth, it is usually that each can share acceptance for one another.  So, yes, I want you to share in the acceptance of Jesus.

Some people may want to share their experience of a concert ...wanting to see the admiration (or jealousy) in your eyes.  Or if you saw a great movie ...how much more if you'd met one of the stars in person. And of course, there are sports figures ...our favorites. We also don't want to miss the opportunity to tell our friends that we too ...have been to that new popular restaurant.

I read a book recently about Sparky Anderson ...and that was an excellent read, a impressive life story. I've also read about George Washington, and much about the life of Abraham Lincoln.  

Some people prefer certain types of music ...and if they like it enough, get the entire collection.  My Dad has several collections of his favorite authors ...usually Westerns, or mysteries.

It's a mystery to me why anyone would not be interested in what the Creator of the universe has to say to us.

We have to do more than just see with our eyes ...

So, we say we are not going to spend so much time in front of what some people have called the idiot box ...or what we generally call TV.

Other people's thoughts can enlighten us, and there have been good TV shows ...but, we have to be selective.

Some people prefer to be enlightened not by TV ...but, by books. I am not a big reader, but I was willing to take some advice.  I was told that every Christian should read "The Confessions of St. Augustine".

If I was before not motivated to read much ...this book certainly did not help much.  I've heard that most of the great artists felt that they had to first suffer greatly.  Well, I don't know if this same thing is held to be true of great readers ...but I did suffer through that book.  And I have to confess that I don't consider myself any better as a result of it.  I do know I am better as a result of a root canal that I've had ...but, I can't say the same for the book.  Perhaps it takes several years to recover.  Perhaps St. Augustine should have been privileged with reading one of my books ...and see if he'd had fared any better. Perhaps his only desire would be to have had my dentist.

Okay, that book wasn't that bad ...and I think a bit of reading is better than no reading, unless it is a book like Rules for Radicals, encouraging that which should not be encouraged. At least I would not encourage any Saul Alinsky tactics. Yet, there are enough good books out there ...where I can encourage others to read.

Of the 25 Spiritual Classics that I've seen on one list on this computer, I've only read five of them.  I've already mentioned the one.  I've found enjoyment in reading Pilgrim's Progress, and Divine Comedy.  The more recent two, I've enjoyed immensely ...Mere Christianity, and Orthodoxy.  Perhaps it was because I suffered first ...but, I think not.