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<\/div>\n

This essay was previously blogged under \u201cWhat to read\u201d but I have now, at the helm of Bob Robinson, posted it as a link and a pdf file.<\/span><\/p>\n

Never Alone<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026the truth that reading and its necessary twin, writing,
constitute not merely an ability but a power.\u201d
\u2014 Jacques Barzun<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery old man complains,\u201d so said Samuel Johnson, \u201cof the growing depravity of the world, of the petulance and insolence of the rising generation.\u201d Old Professors of small liberal arts colleges moan, like veteran Argive soldiers long back from Troy, about the privileges \u2013 hard earned ones \u2013 the young Professors have, like sabbaticals, computer support, and no longer needing to raise funds for the school. More often, though, they crab about the competence of young students to write clear sentences with good grammar and active verbs and concrete nouns. I agree with them. I am inclined, however, to think the Apocalyptic Darkness is not just round the bend for, as Robert Benchley once wrote, \u201cthe gay little legends on which we were brought up before the world grew dim and sordid\u201d are just that: \u201cgay little legends\u201d (with an extra twist for a former use of \u201cgay\u201d).<\/p>\n

If you want to read the rest of this essay, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This essay was previously blogged under \u201cWhat to read\u201d but I have now, at the helm of Bob Robinson, posted it as a link and a pdf file. Never Alone \u201c\u2026the truth that reading and its necessary twin, writing,constitute not merely an ability but a power.\u201d\u2014 Jacques Barzun \u201cEvery old man complains,\u201d so said Samuel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1738],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essays"],"yoast_head":"\nNever Alone<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This essay was previously blogged under "What to read" but I have now, at the helm of Bob Robinson, posted it as a link and a pdf file.Never Alone\u201c\u2026the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2005\/05\/09\/never-alone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Never Alone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This essay was previously blogged under "What to read" but I have now, at the helm of Bob Robinson, posted it as a link and a pdf file.Never Alone\u201c\u2026the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2005\/05\/09\/never-alone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2005-05-09T19:51:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2005\/05\/09\/never-alone\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2005\/05\/09\/never-alone\/\",\"name\":\"Never Alone\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2005-05-09T19:51:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2005-05-09T19:51:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\"},\"description\":\"This essay was previously blogged under \\\"What to read\\\" but I have now, at the helm of Bob Robinson, posted it as a link and a pdf file.Never Alone\u201c\u2026the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2005\/05\/09\/never-alone\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2005\/05\/09\/never-alone\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2005\/05\/09\/never-alone\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Never Alone\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Creed\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\",\"name\":\"Scot McKnight\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. 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