I’m having a blast in our new Reading and Thinking through Classic and Contemporary Literature group and class. This FREE class is something we are doing for the community simply because we value great literature as art. We value reading, we value thinking, and we value people. But it is also a lot of fun! And I think the children and parents involved are enjoying the journey as well.
The quote above is written backwards, intentionally. See if you grasp the irony. Soren Kierkegaard’s statement was full of wisdom and truth: Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
As with all art, one of the most powerful experiences we can have lies not in the pages of what we read, what we watch on a screen, what we hear with our ears, or what we take in visually, but in our reflections on the art itself and how we experience it. We can learn a great deal about ourselves from reflection: We can learn about our tendencies, and how we respond to different incidents, characters, statements, and ideas in reflection.
This is just one of the many reasons we are gathering together with junior high and high school students to engage classic and contemporary literature. We want to develop musicians and artists that think about life now, before all of it is in the rearview mirror. If you or someone you know may be interested in joining us next winter, drop us a line.