 |
A Third Publication by Garrett Albertson
Describes How a Person Can Improve
Their Life by Reading Four Hours a Day |
My great
grandfather had barely a seventh grade education, but through work and study
managed to pass the rigorous ordination into the Presbyterian Church. How did
he do this? Well, he was largely self-taught, and attributes the greatest
factor in his learning to reading for four hours a day.
One of the
chapters in his book I am republishing under the name Frontier Stories, talks
about how he experienced an awakening from one sentence he read as a twenty
year old. That one sentence transformed his life from one of a time waster to a
"time miser" as he puts it. One sentence sets his life on a course he
had never considered, and had previously been unqualified for.
Reading this
chapter entitled, "An Awakening" reminds me of how relevant my great
grandfather's wisdom is even to today's generations. He writes, "It is one
thing to lay hold of a truth; quite another to have truth lay hold of you. When
this great truth burned into my heart, what a difference it made in my life!
After this I lived by the clock. Each day had twenty-four hours; four of them I
must secure for reading purposes. At first I read indiscriminately, then to a
purpose."
My great
grandfather goes on to recount how, not allowing his station or the obstacles
in life to hinder him, in an era where secondary education was not expected or
easily available, he pursued education and never stopped reading in order to
create a life that had meaning and impact. And that is exactly what happened.
Going on to achieve a great many accomplishments within the Presbyterian
church, including starting more than 250 Sunday School's across the nation, my
great grandfather holds the honor of being one of the founding fathers of the
very first presbyterian church in Enid Oklahoma.
Be sure to read
this entire chapter in Frontier Stories to find out what that sentence was that
transformed his life!
