Reading in community is a practice that has been done by people for ages and continues today. For some this looks like a weekly shared scripture reading in Church, and for others it means gathering weekly at a friend’s house as a branch of Oprah’s book club. And the majority of us will never forget dreaded summer reading.
I never liked mandatory summer reading, and I always waited until the final week to complete it. But this summer, before my friends and I departed for Central America, we decided on two books that we would read together — Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together and Oscar Romero’s The Violence of Love.
Reading with others is a powerful way to get to know people and books better. As people publicly ask questions and discuss what they’ve been thinking privately, personalities are revealed and relationships grow deeper. Passages, topics, and themes that some caught and others missed are also brought to the table.
This was my first time reading a book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and while I felt like I could’ve tweeted the whole book, I wanted to spare my followers. As a group we learned a great deal, and reading this together revealed weaknesses, strengths, and much new wisdom in our lives together here in Central America. This book certainly deserves the place it has on lists of “Christian Classics.”
Below I’ve included some quotes from each chapter of the book that were memorable to the group and I. All quotes were taken from Bonhoeffer, Dietrich (2010). Life Together and Prayerbook of the Bible (Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works) (v. 5). Augsburg Fortress Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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