Are You one of the 55 ???

Don't even think about using spell check!!!!!!!!

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna you raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I wsa rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr teh ltteres in a wrod are, teh olny iproamtnt tihng is taht teh frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghi t pclae. The rset cna be a taotl mses and yuo cna sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! fi yuo cna raed tihs frowrad it.

The fact is that large percentage of people cannot read any of these words – even this line. Literacy is a huge issue for many people.

In 1967 my wife and I moved from Trois Rivieres, Quebec to Fredericton, New Brunswick. At the time we had been married for 3 months (married in Saskatchewan).

At the time I was a Technician working on all kinds of business machines. The job took me into banks of all kinds.

As I worked behind the counter with the tellers and the various staff I had the opportunity to listen in on many conversations. One particular caught my attention shortly after I began working in that area. It went something like this…

“Good morning Mr. John. How are you today? What could I do for you today?”

“I would like to cash this check please.”

There was a pause, then the teller would call over one of the staff that was walking around near where I was working. The staff member would quietly step up to where the teller was working, lean forward, scribble something, following that the teller would pull out some money a give it to Mr. John.

I knew the procedure for cashing a check. This was different from what I had ever seen. When I asked the person that I was working with what was happening, the answer startled me. “Mr. John cannot read or write. When he comes in we all know him. He places his mark – usually an “X” on his check and then our teller and the extra person sign it for him.

In 1967 that happened perhaps with as many as 5 to 6 people out of 10 people in the bank line up. Literacy rates were very low – illiteracy rates were very high – especially among the men.

The bank staff explained that many of the men had left school when they were very young and simply headed off to the bush to become loggers. Some had started as young as 10 years old helping dad, their uncles or their grandfather. From that time on the only thing that mattered was working. Reading never happened. Who would ever carry a book to the bush?

According to some studies that have been released in recent times – literacy rates are falling. In the chart below you can see that the rates are falling world wide. How can that happen in such a high tech world as we live in? I mean I can understand if a country doesn’t have computers or books – their people may not be able to read – how can that be?

You can sit a book on the table of a person and leave it there for say one month… If they do not pick it up and read it nothing happens. Reading requires action of the whole body – not just the eyes. I must stop, pick up the book, turn on the computer, and then look at the words. It takes a total participation to become a reader.

The top paragraph of this blog is fun to read. If you read it all it demonstrated the power of your mind. If you are in the group of 55 people that could read it – you likely can read just about anything. However 45 people cannot. Not just because their brain cannot sort out the words and letters – they just cannot read at all!

I came across this tremendous statement….
Where will you be in five years?
"You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for two things: the people you meet and the books you read."
~ Charlie Tremendous Jones

Let me test you.

When is the last time you read a good book? Or maybe any book? Do you read newspapers or magazine articles? What do you read?

I am a reader. I love books of all kinds. I love topics of all kinds. I have some favorite kinds of books – but in reality I love all books. I read.

With my transition to retirement mode I am moving my books out of my office now – finding boxes to place my treasures in.

A man walked into my office and said a loud – “WOW! Are you having a garage sale or did a bomb go off in here?” There are books all over the floor, the couch and the chairs.

Then he asked, “Have you really read them all?” My answer shocked him, “Yes…and some I have read many times over.”

His answer or comment shocked me, “I don’t read at all. I have read only three books in my life and that was way back in primary school. I don’t know how you can read all these!?”

When I told him that I write about 1000 words each morning for people to read (on this Blog) – he looked at me like I was from another planet… “Why?” was his next question.

Illiteracy lives right next door to you. In fact it may well live right under your own roof.

Illiteracy is a serious problem and can be dealt with by one good book at the appropriate level for a reader…then another book added with another great story.

What are you reading now? Do you have a good book for your summer reading in Canada?

At a cottage a long time ago I witnessed an amazing thing happen. The day was cold and raining. We sat in the large front room. The lady that we were with picked up a book and began to read out loud to the kids that sat around her. There was no TV and no computer game. There were just words…beautiful words read by an expert reader. It still is one of the most amazing moments at a cottage that I have every experienced…wonderful words mixed with the sound of falling rain…

I have to go no…I have two more books to read from this morning. Happy reading!

~ Pastor Murray Lincoln ~

Resource
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy