LIWD :: day 48 :: Meditative Reading

There are two ways of introducing a soul into prayer, which should be pursued for some time; the one is meditation, the other is reading accompanied by meditation.

Meditative reading is the choosing some important practical or speculative truth, always preferring the practical, and proceeding thus: whatever truth you have chosen, read only a small portion of it, endeavoring to taste and digest it, to extract the essence and substance of it, and proceed no farther while any savor or relish remains in the passage: then take up your book again, and proceed as before, seldom reading more than half a page at a time.

It is not quantity that is read, but the manner of reading, that yields us profit.  Those who read fast, reap no more advantage, than a bee would by only skimming over the surface of the flower, instead of waiting to pentrate into it, and extract its sweets.  Much reading is rather for scholastic subjects, than divine truths; to receive profit from spiritual books, we must read as I have described; and I am certain that if that method were pursued, we should become gradually habituated to prayer by our reading, and more fully disposed for its exercise.

- Madame Guyon

It is not quantity that is read, but the manner of reading, that yields us profit.

I am, by nature, a speed reader.  I skim things.  If a novel catches my interest, I can easily finish it in a day or two.  In my speed reading, I do tend to miss out on small details...and sometimes big ones.  I often have to go back and reread to figure out what exactly I missed.

Slow, meditative reading is something I'm working on.  It takes focus.  It takes effort.  I desperately want to jump ahead, but I know I'm getting much more out of it when I take the time to fully read every word and pay attention to even the most minute details.

I am currently reading Beyond Smells and Bells: The Wonder and Power of Christian Liturgy by Mark Galli.  I've been reading it for just over a month now.  It's a small book, from cover to cover, it's less than 150 pages.  I have found that by meditating slowly through this book, I am really able to connect with God through it.  I am able to really grasp what Mark is speaking of.  I am able to bypass my snap judgement to his words and really hear what he's trying to portray. 

While this book may be light in size, it is definitely not a light subject matter.  The liturgy is a powerful subject.  I have been reading one to pages at a time, allowing a day or two to pass while I reflect on what I've read, and then rereading those pages before going on. 

I've never read a book so slowly before...but I've also never gotten so much out of a book.  I don't necessarily agree with everything Mark writes, but by meditating on it, I'm able to sort through what I feel God is saying to me through these words.