Welcome back to the Reading Journal! These entries are short, weekly posts where I can digest some of what I’ve been reading recently and share some of my thoughts on it, as well.
This week, I continued reading Matthew B, Crawford’s, Shop Class as Soulcraft, and began Douglas Wilson’s, Rules for Reformers. However, this post will be shorter than usual. I was traveling most of this past week, visiting family in Tennessee. I didn’t read much while there, and our trip home included some unplanned-for events that I’ll have to write about sometime later, once I’ve recovered enough from them to laugh about them. So, the following is just a short update.
Let’s go ahead and get to it.
Shop Class as Soulcraft
In the little reading I did in this book this week, Crawford compared his experience in academic circles with his experience working on vehicles. Essentially, it sounds like his academic experience was more frustrating than rewarding. While his mechanical work was also frustrating, he finds deep satisfaction in the completion of a job. This is what pushes him to continue doing the work.
It’s not that truly academic work is unfulfilling, but Crawford found that there were so many other games someone in the world of academia had to play that people pursuing academic careers aren’t free to just focus on their subjects. Those academics are forced to play political games in order to get positions or funding. A trade job cuts a lot of that out, although there are still things like business licenses, building codes, etc. that must be adhered to.
Crawford also points out that his work as a mechanic gives him some personal agency. That point alone has made me more sure about doing certain things for myself, if only because it develops more agency in me. By agency, I mean I gain both real-world experiences, as opposed to abstract knowledge, and some level of confidence when making future decisions. I could see how the more this is developed, someone could eventually develop a lot of general wisdom about how things work based on their various experiences. We miss out on this when we outsource our problem-solving to experts. This must be done at times, of course, but I’m going to be trying to do more for myself to develop my skills and experience and to develop those things in my kids.
Rules for Reformers
This book by Douglas Wilson is one that I’ve heard a lot of people reference but I haven’t read for myself. I figured since I hadn’t read a Doug Wilson book yet this year it was time and this was next on my list.
I’ve only read a very little bit of this book so far, but the idea is that it would be a play on Saul Alinsky’s, Rules for Radicals. This book, in contrast to Alinsky’s, seeks to lay out the principles for societal reform and explain why Christians do things in a reformational way instead of doing them the revolutionary’s way. Christians are not revolutionaries, but we are reformers. I’m looking forward to the book and hope to come away with some encouragement in the long, slow work of the Christian reformation of society.
That wraps it up for this week. I apologize for the short post but assure you that this week was a crazy one. Things should be back to normal next week, and I’ll have a good dose of content based on Crawford and Wilson’s books.
Please share what you’re reading and feel free to start a conversation on these books in the comments. If you know someone who might enjoy or benefit from this content, please share it with them.
Finally, thank you for reading the Reading Journal!
In Him and for His Glory