I love words, especially new words, so this Japanese word caught my attention when I read Our Daily Bread this morning.

Tsundoku is a Japanese term that refers to a stack of unread books. I like this definition: tsundoku is a combination of Japanese words meaning “to pile up” and “reading.”

It can be used in a sentence like this: My bookcase is generally filled with tsundoku – books I’ve bought but haven’t read yet.

I checked online to see how it is pronounced. The easiest way to say it is to drop the T and say sun-do-ku.

Of course it must be pronounced with a Japanese accent which is not easy for this country girl whose native tongue is English with a Pennsylvania Dutch accent.

Linguistics and foreign languages are not one of my gifts. I think I can still count to five in Spanish and there are a few Pennsylvania Dutch words I understand – but that is the extent of my talent in words other than English.

I’ve been fascinated with words since first grade (1949-1950) when I learned to read, Dick and Jane Run and Jump.

As a teenager I read every Grace Livingston Hill book that Mom had – and today many of them are on our bookshelves. Maybe they are tsundoku, because I haven’t read any of these since I was a teenager.

As I pondered the word tsundoku this morning, I thought, “Unread books are not generally a serious issue – unless one of those books in the Bible.”  

This time of social distancing would be a great opportunity to create a time each day to intentionally read God’s Word.

His Word gives us guidance when we have choices to make.

His Word keeps us focused and centered on what really matters.

His Word reminds us where to go when we feel scared and scattered.

His Word invites us to trust the God of the universe – Who knows everything.

His Word assures us that Jesus cares about us – heart and body and soul

His Word unleashes the power of The Holy Spirit.

Since most young parents are quarantined to their houses these days – it would be a great time to read good books to their children.

As we learn new words and relearn some that we haven’t heard for a long time, like – coronavirus, COVID-19, social distancing, shelter-in-place, teleworking, telemedicine, telehealth, asymptomatic – reading may be a great way to use our down time.

Having to stay home for days or maybe weeks is a great opportunity to catch up on that tsundoku you always meant to read. 🙂