Seriously

I read, on average, one book each week. I’m not bragging, it’s just part of who I am. I decided in January that I would read one book each month that was at least 50 years old. Currently I am reading a book by Charles H. Spurgeon entitled, "John Ploughman’s Talk." I have read Spurgeon quite a bit over the years, having been challenged by his sermons and encouraged and helped by his "Lectures to My Students." Until now I never knew he was funny.

(For example, in his chapter on “The Idle” he writes, “The ugliest sight in the world is one of those thorough-bred loafers, who would hardly hold up his basin if it were to rain porridge; and for certain would never hold up a bigger pot than he wanted to fill for himself. Perhaps, if the shower should turn to beer, he make wake himself up a bit; but he would make up for it afterwards” Later he writes, "Nobody is more like an honest man than a thorough rogue.")

In the preface to John Ploughman’s Talk he writes, “That I have written in a semi-humourous vein needs no apology… There is no particular virtue in being seriously unreadable.”

I’ve been thinking about that last statement in light of one of my personal rules to live by, “Take God more seriously and yourself less seriously.” It’s always good to find people who agree with you who have excellent reputations and whose writings have stood the test of time.