Anyone seeing this can either read or has a voice output on their device, but I'm sitting at one of my fave Chicago libraries just thinking about the sad state of so many who cannot read or write, who never learned to type, and who don't have free, safe access to the internet and the learning that can come from all of these.
In the U.S. there are countless libraries to the extent even many very small towns have them. Most people at least can visit one within fairly easy driving distance. In the majority of libraries one can also have free access to a computer and the Web with nothing more than a free library card.
Of -course- there is a boatload of online propaganda, fake news to the hilt, temptations galore, books on the shelves that tell lies and an advertising glut-overload online, and I get that. Yet, still- the ability to read or hear, type or use voice recognition and other impaired-assist software helps means education and further services (plus those offered in each library) are available at no cost.
Today as I walked in the door of my local fave library I took a moment to simply smile and thank one of the staff for her work. I know they don't hear that nearly as much as they should.
I finished by saying it's a travesty so many places in the world have few if any libraries and am so very blessed we've got such incredible public resources here in Chicago, but really, throughout most of the U.S..
There are literacy programs both private and public reaching out in various African and other nations around the world and I say BRAVO! Teaching reading, writing, then typing and basic computer and research skills can make a massive difference in people's lives and their locality as well as larger world.
If one is willing to make the effort and do the work of fact-checking, cross-referencing from a wide range of views and not bury themselves in what Harold Best (former Dean of the Conservatory of Music at Wheaton College) deemed "provincialism", meaning being hard-wired into one's immediate surroundings and narrow views as absolute while deeming others "outside" as irrelevant or regularly plain wrong -it's incredible what one can learn.
I've worked hard in missions most of my life in over perhaps 60 or more percent of the world doing concerts, speaking, short and quite long tours, listening, asking questions, studying, interviewing a wide range of Christian and other leaders on all sorts of topics including the Bible, also church, music and general history -but I can say libraries have been an awesome help to me in my own education and hopefully passing on care and balance in what I speak, write and sing.
USE the library if you've got one near you- and let them know you appreciate their work for your personal benefit as well as for the public at large!
As always, thanks for stopping by. -Glenn
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