My students usually balk at having to read a
book that’s about reading a book but I have them read it anyway. The book is
called How to read a Book: The classic
guide to intelligent reading by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren. It
was written in the middle of the last century and it is still in print because
it addresses the different types of ways to read for understanding. One of the
most important criteria is to read the book from the author’s perspective.
According to Adler and Van Doren, you cannot understand a book until you have
read it at least twice, outlined it in detail, compared it to other similar
books and deciphered the words that the author uses in a unique way. Then and
only then are you prepared to engage the work for the deeper meaning that the author intended. Fortunately, not all books require that
much work. Only those books that you wish to know well enough that they become
a part of you are worth this kind of deep analytical reading.
For the last six weeks, we have treated the
Beatitudes in a similar way. We have read them deeply and introspectively. We
have allowed ourselves to interpret broader meanings. We have personalized them
with our own affirmations. We have memorized, meditated and contemplated them.
We have prayed them. We have, in
effect, sought the author’s perspective.
Studying the sacred texts should not be only
an academic exercise. If we presume that the words have the power to affect our
lives than we must be open to not just “knowing” more but actually “becoming”
more. I believe that this is what
the Beatitudes teach us, that our spiritual walk starts with us wanting to
change but ends with us making a change in the world. We bring love, grace,
mercy, compassion and peace into whatever situation we find ourselves. The more we study and grow, the deeper
the love, the kinder the grace and mercy, the more wondrous the peace.
From my years of teaching and my lifetime of
being a student, I understand that words do not teach. Words get memorized. Words can be
recalled and tested and regurgitated but true learning is an activity, an
experience. To experience the teaching of the Bible we need more than the Left
brain because the author did not write for just the Left brain. This is obvious
to me because it takes more than Left brain understanding to “see God
everywhere,” especially when we are looking at God within ourselves.
As I meditate on Beatitudes #6, I
feel like I’ve traveled a great distance from where I was when I meditated on
Beatitude #1 six weeks ago.
I find that having a practice of keeping the scriptures present through
out the day has had a profound effect on me. True, I relate to my body
differently and I think of eating in a different way than I did when we
started. But there’s more, I feel less stress. I don’t move as fast. I don’t
feel pressured by my TO DO list, in fact, I’ve actually been more productive
and focused over the last six weeks.
My desk is organized!
Maybe, just maybe, utilizing the Left brain and Right brain while studying/experiencing
the Beatitudes has made it easier to bring an expanded awareness to the rest of
my life. My meditation today was the thought that if I look for God everywhere I see God everywhere....so did God just get there or is it me?
Can
you identify areas of your life, other than eating and exercise that have been
affected by your participation in the Sacred and Fit program. If so, write about what has changed in your
Notebook.
Consider the question I've been pondering..Did God just get here, or is it me? In other words, As I commit to think thoughts of love I see more love around me. What does this mean? ( I'm actually asking myself this question.)
No comments:
Post a Comment