Blurring the lines
I don’t read as much as I used to. Growing up, I was a bookworm. I read encyclopedias for fun! I was always reading, and the ladies at the public library knew me by name. My mother used to give me grief for always having my nose in a book. But I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I read a book from cover to cover.It’s not that I don’t read. It’s that the print on most books has become too small! Some say it’s a result of all the years of staring at a computer screen, but I kind of doubt that’s the culprit. I think it’s just the way I’ve aged. When I got my first reading glasses at age 40, I wore them on a cord around my neck, so I could grab them when I wanted to read something that was fine print. Over the years, they’ve increased in magnification and are a permanent fixture on my head. It’s an aspect of getting old I really hate.
Being a very visual person, I like seeing things clearly. I like clean edges, I like seeing the detail, the fine grain. I’ve always depended a great deal on my eyes. Now that I’m approaching sixty, I can’t trust them anymore, and I don’t like that. It can cause a lot of problems! Having blurred vision can lead to misunderstandings, a word misread can separate friends and family.
Blurring the lines is a problem in the everyday world. Language is being reworked so words have changing meanings. And don’t get me started about the political arena. You can’t believe much of anything that comes out of that world. Even when it makes sense it’s probably a lie. But worse than that, lines are blurring in the spiritual realm. Everything is getting merged (and sometimes sub-merged) and it’s really difficult to know what to believe.
Recently I studied on Bible versions, and their origins. With so many new translations and paraphrases out there, how can you know what’s right and true? It’s as scary as going out without my glasses. If the people who claim to have “translated” it don’t even believe in God, and don’t respect the Bible as an authority, won’t that impact the way they “translate” it?
So for me at this point, I’m sticking with the King James Version. It isn’t perfect, but it’s the closest thing we have. This new stuff is just creepy.
January 11, 2014 @ 4:07 am
I know what you mean! When it comes to reading the fine print on medication bottles, I give up!
The same with reading the credits at the end of movies broadcast on TV. I don’t have one of those large-screen sets; I don’t understand why the producers don’t realize that many of us don’t. I’d like to appreciate the movies’ actors and technicians, but what was originally meant to be seen on theater screens doesn’t translate very well on normal-size TV screens.
As a result, it’s often funny how I “parse” words that aren’t immediately recognizable!
Right on, Rose!
January 11, 2014 @ 4:42 am
Thanks, Karen! And think of how important the words on the medication bottles might be to us! I have noticed more pharmacies including printed versions of instructions, etc., in larger type, with the prescriptions when you pick them up.
Another trend that makes me semi-crazy as a web developer is this dark grey font on light grey background that so many websites are using. That and those tiny 9 pt fonts. They are probably fine for the 20-somethings who design these things, but for those of us who are older, oy!
January 13, 2014 @ 4:18 pm
I also love to read. Books are harder to read for me to read also so I’ve adjusted. I read on my IPad. I can make the print as large as I need. I can bookmark and ‘write in the margins’ just as I always loved to do. The advantages are numerous. I can carry my entire library in my pocketbook. When conversing with someone and I get stuck trying to remember a passage I just whip out my IPad and WAHLAH! Another advantage is that when I least expect it; waiting for a meeting to begin, a friend for lunch, in a doctors office, I can get some reading time where I would otherwise have been frustrated at wasted time.
Love you Rose. Thanks for your posts.
January 13, 2014 @ 4:19 pm
…and proof reading is something I need to work on…………….ugh!
January 13, 2014 @ 4:36 pm
LOL. I think our fingers fly before the brain can catch up!
January 13, 2014 @ 4:35 pm
YES! It’s one arena where computers are so handy. I can make the font as large and as dark as needed, which really helps. And when it comes to Bible study, using a computer is neat because I can open a text and click on a concordance or a commentary about that verse and read it all in the same setting. No piles of big bulky books!