September 24, 2001
DOWN HOME:
'To read or not to read?' Another question indeed
___Culture sometimes happens when you least expect it.
___We've been exposed to culture lately, thanks to school.
___Molly's been reading "Jane Eyre" in her freshman English class. Lindsay already polished off "The Iliad" and has been wading through "Hamlet" in her senior English class.
___Molly's the reader in our family's younger generation, and Lindsay's the mathematician.If you didn't know that, you could tell it during dinnertime discussions. Molly often uses words like "fascinating" and "exciting" to describe books. Lindsay's literary lexicon leans toward words like "stupid" and "boring." Change the subject to math, and they often trade modifiers.
MARV KNOX
Editor
___As Sunday lunch concluded, Lindsay bemoaned the fact she needed to go upstairs and read "Hamlet."
___"What's 'Hamlet' about?" Joanna asked. "It's been a long time; I forgot."
___I put my finger in my mouth and cocked my thumb, mimicking Hamlet's suicidal tendencies.
___"They didn't have guns back then," Lindsay corrected.
___"They didn't have thumbs?" Molly asked, incredulously.
___"Guns," Lindsay said. "Guns. They didn't have guns!"
___"Yeah," Jo affirmed. "But I wonder what would've happened if people didn't have opposable thumbs?"
___"Well, Shakespeare wouldn't have been able to write this stupid, boring play," Lindsay volunteered, imitating how the "Bard of Avon" would have tried to pick up a quill without a thumb.
___"Just who was Hamlet?" Jo quizzed Lindsay. "Have you studied that yet?"
___To our amazement, Molly responded quickly, "A prince from Denmark."
___"Wow, Molly. I didn't know you knew that," her mother and I both replied in congratulatory tones.
___"Well, didn't you see that episode of 'Boy Meets World' where they played 'Hamlet'?" she asked.
___Ah. Culture by way of TV. Reminds me of the time when Lindsay was still a preschooler and started humming Beethoven's "Fifth Symphony" during dinnertime. I was so impressed with my kid's culture I momentarily forgave her for breaking the "no singing and humming at the dinnertable" rule.
___"Baby, that's terrific," I crowed, imagining my child a musical prodigy. "Where did you learn that?"
___"From a commercial," she answered, her truth breaking my bubble of parental pride.
___Of course, I shouldn't be surprised my children learn at least a little culture from sitcoms and commercials. They're no different from the generation that preceded them.
___However, I'm more concerned that they learn the literature of the Bible-- hiding God's word in their hearts to shield them from sin.
___If my generation of U.S. Christians could discuss the New Testament with the familiarity with which we expound upon reruns of "The Andy Griffith Show" and "M*A*S*H," the world would be a better, more godly place.
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