I loved the story of Hans "reading" his New Testament in the park with Jan. How much of this kind of reading -- reading but not reading, reading "marked by devout indifference" -- shows up in our lives and in our congregations, seminaries, and presbyteries? Let's jot down a few examples to share in our phone call on December 6.
I think participatory reading was first modeled for me in Young Life. But I gained a fresh sense of it in my early twenties when I visited a Trappist monastery in Huntsville, Utah, near where I was living at the time. A monk named Father Charles taught us about lectio divina and led us in an experience of it. It was amazing and unforgettable. The metaphor of eating this book first took root in me on that weekend.
As we get started on this new book, I'm curious how familiar or how new this leisurely, ruminating, swallowing and savoring kind of reading is to all of us. If it's familiar, how did you learn about it? If it's new, how does it strike you?
What's a passage or section of scripture that you've been gnawing on recently, like that old dog of Eugene's with his bone?
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In one of my spiritual formation classes in seminary, we had to read "Shaped By the Word" by Robert Mulholland. It was such a convicting and refreshing book for me, as Mulholland discusses reading Scripture for formation rather than information. The only way we can do that is to "chew" on Scripture and let it transform us.
I remember reading a phrase in Dallas Willard (I think) in college where he talks about marinating in the scripture. That image of just sitting in it and absorbing it and letting it sink in really stuck with me. On Wed. nights I've been teaching a class with a friend where we do a version of lectio divina for the first half and then do a "creative" response to the scripture by writing or drawing. It's been very powerful. I realize how undisciplined I am in doing this kind of thing on my own and miss it.
Has everyone seen the movie "Babette's Feast"? If not, it illuminates wonderfully the idea of ingesting the gospel.
One of my favorite movie scenes along the lines of "reading but not reading" is from "French Kiss" with Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline. It's the scene where Luc is showing Kate his room in his boyhood home, and Kate comes upon a beautiful handmade box filled with bottles that are filled with specimens of local plants: lavendar, mushrooms, and so on. He gives her a glass of his family's wine and asks her to describe it. She takes a quick sip and offers a glib, off the cuff, wine magazine description -- something like, "It's a very bold wine with a hint of sophistication." Luc slows her down, makes her take a long, lingering sip this time and encourages her to think about the specimens in the bottles. What does she taste in the wine this time? She gets it this time, discerning the true nature of the wine, and with this experience their relationship begins to change.
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