For wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
discretion will watch over you,
understanding will guard you.
PROVERBS 2:10-11
All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?
ECCLESIASTES 7:23-24
THE PURPOSE OF THIS PRACTICE is to experience slow reading. You will be interacting with short samples of two texts —one from Stephen Charnock, a seventeenth-century theologian, and the other from Dallas Willard, a twentieth-century philosopher and spiritual writer. You will be reading just two paragraphs, but your intention will be to focus on the content, to absorb the meaning, and to reflect on your own life in relation to what you have read for each segment.
Prepare
Sit quietly in a comfortable position, with a pen in hand and a journal nearby. Take a few deep breaths and try to release the distractions of the day. With each inhalation, see God’s peaceful presence filling you and spreading from the inside out. With each exhalation, see yourself releasing any burdens, concerns, or weights to God, who through his Spirit takes them and places them in safekeeping for this time.
Read
The two paragraphs that follow are challenging and thought-provoking. Engage in the following steps for each paragraph, not moving to the second until you feel you have fully engaged with the first one. Try to be aware of the differences in the feel, the movement, and the content of the two pieces.
- Read the paragraph very slowly, making sure that you don’t skip any words, even small ones.
- As you read it a second time, bring emotion to the words. You may want to read it aloud, as if you were presenting it to an audience. What phrases would you emphasize? What parts might you read loudly? Where could you whisper for effect? Where would you pause?
Reflect
Read the paragraph a third time, asking yourself questions such as:
- What statement is this paragraph trying to make?
- What themes are represented here?
- What interesting revelation does this reading bring to me?
- What makes this relevant?
Jot down thoughts as they come to you.
Respond
Spend a few minutes interacting with God’s Spirit over what you have read. Share with him anything that has moved you, concerned you, or encouraged you. Ask the Spirit to guide you in this final question: What one thing can be different in my day, my life, my relationships, and so on, based on an understanding of what I have read here? Write down what you sense you are hearing.
Reading One: Stephen Charnock, The Existence and Attributes of God
Whatsoever God is, he is infinitely so; he is infinite Wisdom, infinite Goodness, infinite Knowledge, infinite Power, infinite Spirit; infinitely distant from the weakness of creatures, infinitely mounted above the excellencies of creatures; as easy to be known that he is, as impossible to be comprehended what he is. Conceive of him as excellent, without any imperfection; great without quantity; perfect without quality, everywhere without place; understanding without ignorance; wise without reasoning; light without darkness; infinitely more excelling the beauty of all creatures, than the light in the sun, pure and unviolated, exceeds the splendor of the sun dispersed and divided through a cloudy and misty air: and when you have risen to the highest, conceive him yet infinitely above all you can conceive of spirit, and acknowledge the infirmity of your own minds. And whatsoever conception comes into your minds, say, This is not God; God is more than this: if I could conceive him, he were not God; for God is incomprehensibly above whatsoever I can say, whatsoever I can think and conceive of him.
Reading Two: Dallas Willard, Knowing Christ Today
How are we to think about Jesus’ presence today? No doubt volumes could be written on that question, and have been. But the simple fact is that Jesus Christ is present in this world, the only world we have, and in many ways. His teachings, even mangled and broken, have an incredible power to disrupt human systems, including the ones that claim to own him. He is the misfit and thus is available to all who would seek him. His crucifixion and resurrection announce the end of human systems and stand in judgment over them. He is the man on the cross calling us to join him there. He makes himself available to individuals who hear of him and seek him. In many forms both inside and outside the church, with its traditions, symbolisms, and literature, he is simply here among us. He is in his people, but he does not allow himself to be boxed in by them. He calls to us just being here in our midst. There is nothing like him. The people in the churches also have the option of finding him and following him into his kingdom, though that may rarely be what they are doing.
Final Reflection
Before you leave this time of reading, consider what the experience was like. Did you find it hard to concentrate? Were you frustrated? Was it a peaceful time? What would you like to see happen in your life in relation to slow reading? You may want to set an intention for the coming week, such as replacing one session of web surfing with the slow reading of a particular text, or slow-reading a book using this format for fifteen minutes each night before bed.