THE INCREDITABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THOMAS McELWAIN

The Increditable Accomplishments of Thomas McElwain

By: Thomas McElwain

A few days ago, I happened to follow a train of thought that ended in an overwhelming sense of gratitude.
I was thinking about some of the great pieces of literature that I've had the privilege to have read.
I was listing them and remembering them with pleasure, realizing how much wealth they had brought to my life and how fortunate I am to have had the opportunity of reading them.
I have read the Hebrew Scriptures in Hebrew, Latin and Greek as well as in several other translations.
I have read the Greek Scriptures in Greek, Latin, English, Spanish, German, Swedish, Russian, Finnish, and French, and may live to complete a reading of the Gospels in Iroquois.
I have read the Qur'an in Arabic several times.
I have read all of the plays and poems of Shakespeare several times.
I have read El Cid in Spanish.
I have read the Chanson de Roland and the Romance de la Rose in French.
I have read the first book of Goethe's Faust in German and all of the poetry of Heinrich Heine.
I have read several of the plays of Lope de Vega in Spanish.
I have read the great Finnish epic the Kalevala several times in Finnish.
I've struggled through scores of pages of Boris Godunov in Russian and French, picked out several hymns of the Rig Veda in Sanscrit, and even deciphered a few lines of the Tao Te Ching in Chinese.
I am one of the few people in the world who have read the entire Beloved and I.
I feel incredibly blessed.