Reading for Wisdom in an Information Age – EH Leader Podcast

I regularly get asked what I am reading or if there any books I might recommend. In this podcast I answer that question by sharing a number of books I’ve read in the last six to twelve months. I begin, however, by talking about reading for wisdom and not simply for information – suggesting we re-learn how to read.

Many of us as leaders consume enormous amounts of information, reading (or listening) to lots of books. We read to GET the information, the ideas, the insights. But that doesn’t mean what we read is GETTING us. That requires a slower, more prayerful and contemplative pace. It means we may read the same page or paragraph or chapter many times. Why? Our commitment as leaders is not simply to head knowledge but to heart knowledge. As Proverbs 8:11 says: “Wisdom is more precious than jewels, nothing else is so worthy of desire.”

The following is the list of books I discuss in the podcast, i.e. key books I’ve read in last six to twelve months. My goal in sharing them is not that you read these books but rather to expose you to my process of how I arrived at these books in this season of my journey and how I read each of them differently. My prayer is that this podcast will challenge you to listen and follow the Holy Spirit’s leading more carefully for your own reading and journey.

The books I mention are:

1. Inner Compass – Margaret Silf
2. The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ – Fleming Rutledge
3. The Way of Paradox – Cyprian Smith. OSB
4. How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind: Rediscovering the African Seedbed of Western Christianity – Thomas C. Oden
5. The Rebirth of Orthodoxy – Thomas C. Oden
6. A Change of Heart: A Personal and Theological Memoir – Thomas C. Oden
7. Whose Religion is Christianity: The Gospel Beyond the West – Lamin Sanneh
8. The 21: A Journey into the Land of Coptic Marytrs – Martin Mosebach
9. Ancient African Christianity – David E. Wilhite
10. How God Became an African: African Spirituality and Western Secular Thought – Gerrie Ter Haar
11. Pachinko – Min Jin Lee
12. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou
13. An American Marriage – Tayari Jones

Enjoy!