If you are reading this, you possess an ability that many people throughout history never had the chance to develop. In The Grim Old Days, Chelsea Follett describes a world where schooling was limited, books were expensive, and learning to read was beyond the reach of many ordinary people. Imagine having questions about the world but being unable to look up the answers—or even read a letter from your family.
Girls faced especially strong barriers. Some people considered educating a daughter a waste, while others viewed an educated woman with suspicion. Follett cities records from one English diocese around 1600 suggesting that only 6 percent of women could sign their names, compared with 52 percent of men. Even signing a name, however, didn’t necessarily mean someone could read and write much else. Illiteracy restricted opportunity and could leave people dependent on others for the simplest communication.
8 Books themselves were treasures. Before printing and inexpensive paper, producing a manuscript required extraordinary labor and costly materials. Follett notes that a 150-page parchment manuscript could require the skins of about a dozen sheep. Today, we can carry an entire library in a pocket. Knowledge that once required wealth and privilege is often available in seconds.
What an opportunity we have. Yet access alone doesn’t make us wiser. We still have to open the book, study the lesson, and put an idea to work. Today, take fifteen minutes to learn something useful. Generations before us would have treasured the chance.
YES, THANK YOU LORD FOR OUR SCHOOLS!
Larry, I found this a mind-blowing thought on the barriers to reading and education that I never thought of. It was not that long ago that this was the situation. How grateful we should all be to our access to learning and growth opportunities. But it does not happen without action.
Action is the bridge.