Take a minute and survey the book you read. The great thing about this part is that it gives everyone a refresher on the material, and gives you some topics to refer back to during the main discussion. What stood out to different people about the book? What points about the author’s worldview are readily apparent from the conclusions he drew? What do you know about the author, and what do you learn about them through their book?

This step is critical to active listening. What we read affects the way we view the world, so it is important to have a standard to check what you read against. A few good ideas to get you started are Scripture, the Constitution, and the principles of Limited government, Individual freedom, Free enterprise, and Traditional Values (or the LIFT Principles, from Patriot Academy). To get started, how does what you have read line up with scripture? Do you have any particular verses or biblical principles that apply (positively or negatively) to what you are reading? Next, how does your understanding of the constitution inform your opinion of what you have read and its potential affect on our country and the world. And finally, does what you have read talk about any of the four LIFT Principles, and what does it say about them. The evaluation process helps you identify truth in what you are reading, as well as safeguarding against internalizing inaccurate information.

What does this mean for me? The best book in the world can only change the way you think if you take a minute to look at the short and long-term effect of the ideas and actions in the book. What are three possible positive, and three possible negative outcomes of the proposed solutions in the book? What values must be sacrificed in order to promote the principles in the book? Have the ideas in the book affected history positively or negatively? What are some potential moral implications of the worldview in the book?

Is there something that you see because of what you read that brings to mind something in our country to pray about? Are there people to whom you need to communicate the truth you have read? Like every good thing, start small. Maybe you talk to a friend or family member, maybe you talk to your neighbor or call an elected official. We are not all called to run for office, or write a bestselling book, but we are all called to be faithful in the little things in our everyday life.

As you wrap the discussion up, you can take a minute to introduce the next book, maybe with a few facts about the author, or have someone read the back or the flyleaf aloud. End the meeting with prayer for our country, for the world at large, and ask if there is anything the ladies in the group would like you to pray for. Often, there is no easy answer for some of the trials we face, but we serve an awesome God who is fully capable of giving grace and discernment for anything He has placed in our lives.