Saturday, April 1, 2023

Why Read Slowly?

For years, I wished that I enjoyed poetry. I loved words and stories; I thought I'd should enjoy poems too. But when I read a book of poetry, I quickly became frustrated. Reading a book of poetry was so different than reading fiction or nonfiction. I decided that I must not like poetry. 

But I kept trying. I picked up poetry books at used book stores. I read poems to my children. The last couple years, in the month of April, several of my siblings and I exchanged poems on Whatsapp. I enjoyed some poems, but sometimes it felt like swallowing my vitamins.

I've also noticed a disturbing trend in my reading. Impatience. 

Maybe I can blame it on our instant gratification culture. Technology allows knowledge to be gained with little effort. I've become good at skimming websites for information, immediately skipping to the next relevant post in the Google search. I could feel my attention span decreasing. When listening to an audio book or podcast, I pushed up the speed, hyper-listening. More words, more chapters, more content in less time.

I found myself craving slowness. I wanted to linger, to savour, to treasure, not gulp, guzzle, and cram. I wanted to fight against a culture that said more and faster is always better.

In anticipation of the busy holiday season last year, I decided to take a stand against our frantic frenzied culture and purchased Malcolm Guite's Advent poetry collection, Waiting on the Word. (This post contains affiliate links.) Each day I read one poem selected or written by Guite and read his short commentary on the poem. I had to read each poem more than once to extract the meaning. I still didn't think I was great at reading poetry. I didn't know if I even liked poetry. But I did like what slowing down, reading carefully, and rereading was doing for me. 

I enjoyed it so much that I bought Guite's Lent and Easter poetry collection Word in the Wilderness. I don't observe Lent as a spiritual practice, but I'm enjoying this collection of poems on the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. 

Was it just happanstance that this winter I purposely began to practice slow Bible reading?

Last year I read through the Bible in a year, which I enjoyed because it gave me the wide-angle view of the Bible in a big swath. But I felt like I was galloping through the prairie. I wanted to slow down and look for wildflowers. I didn't want to skim read. I wanted to camp out under one tree for a week and count the ants and acorns. 

I wondered if my habit of skim reading online, of listening to audio books in double speed, was ruining my ability to read God's Word deeply. How can I follow God's command to meditate on His Word when I'm rushing to complete my chapter for the day to fill my brain with the next bit of noise?

So my Bible reading this year as been slow and deliberate. I spent weeks in the book of Habakukk, reading and rereading the verses. I worked through the Kingdom of Priests Bible study published by Daughters of Promise. I have taken one passage and turned it over and studied each side. Then did it again the next day with the same passage. 

Is there a connection between my goal of reading poetry and my deliberate practice of slow Bible reading? Can I train my brain to focus, just as I once urged my brain to speed read? Speed reading may have value, but right now I'm relishing slow and steady, deliberate and thougthful.

April is National Poetry Month in the US and Canada. (Who comes up with these designated days? Well, a quick search found that this one was begun by the Academy of American Poets, a nonprofit who attempts to encourage the reading of poetry.)

Want to join me in some slow reading? Do you, like me, want to use poetry as a way to build a habit of reading more deliberately? I hope to talk more about poetry this month, but I'd love to hear from you. How do you fight against the instant culture? Have you chosen any specific practices to slow yourself down and think deeply? 

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16 comments :

  1. I will join you. I do have a habit of reading books fast, especially when I participate in reading challenge. My Bible reading though, I read more slowly because I like to verse map passages I want to study more. I'm currently doing the Spring Reading Challenge and I have several very old poetry books that belonged to my mother-in-law. I can't wait to hear about your slow reading.

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  2. I made a goal last year to read 4 books a month, partly for the very reason that you're talking about. I had discovered that it took real effort for me to sit down and focus on actually reading a physical book and I was appalled! That challenge was really good for me (although I did include audio books too and what you're talking about is much more intentionally going slow.) But I do so agree with the observations that you made here! I would love to hear more about your experience with using the Kingdom of Priests Bible study. I've been kind of intrigued by it but also a little afraid I'll spend the money and not actually use it!

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    1. I enjoyed the study a lot. I know it isn't cheap, the the fact that I spent money on it meant that I was more motivated to do it! Gina

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  3. Beverly J SullivanApril 2, 2023 at 10:38 AM

    I have found that writing out Scripture (in cursive) slows me down and helps me contemplate what I read. Sometimes I write an entire passage and sometimes I just pick out a couple of verses to write. It's been a wonderful habit to develop.

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    1. I love the idea of writing out verses. You are right, it would give time to think on the words. Gina

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  4. This is so true for me. Scanning and rushing through. Even the newspaper for our little town. God has been slowly showing me how much I am taking in via the net. I am learning to even par that down to a handful of blogs, channels etc that draw me closer to God or challenge me to become a better woman. I love your post on reading slower. Scripture was meant to be meditated upon. I miss that. Thank you.
    Can I ask the blog email notification you decided to go with and the ones that didn't work? I have slowed down my blogging due to not having any way for folks to get notified. Thanks. Peace be with you, Dee

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    1. Dee, I am using Mailerlite and am liking it. Gina

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  5. Thank you for this Gina. It made me think that I try to speed read the Bible as well. I was glad for the nudge in the right direction.

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  6. I have also struggled to appreciate poetry, but in recent years, a few excellent spiritual poets have opened my eyes to the power of a few well-chosen words. I also wish I could read the bible both more deeply and more broadly - there just isn't time to soak it all in as I wish I could! Have you read Women of the Word by Jen Wilkin? A small book detailing a method of reading for deep understanding that has been helpful to me. Here are some beautiful poems to look up to whet your appetite - all should be in the common domain: Good Friday by Christina Rosetti; The Wise Men by G. K. Chesterton; Love (III) by George Herbert; i thank you God by ee cummings. And of course Seven Stanzas at Easter by John Updike - I think I shared that one with you last year! John Piper is also quite a poet. He says writing poetry helps him to see - and reading his poems has helped me to see! I think a good poem makes "our hearts burn within us," with a special kind of seeing. Perhaps some of these poems can give you a spark! - Mary Kathryn

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    1. Mary Kathryn, Thanks for the recommendations. I'll look these up! Gina

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  7. Gina, thank you for your thoughtful post. One of my favorite ways to slow down is hanging laundry on the clothesline. I do like reading poetry with my children (we’ve found neat books of poetry at the library to correlate to studies on seasons, trees, snow and ice, holidays, etc.) but haven’t enjoyed adult poetry as much. Maybe I appreciate the “slower” and seemingly mundane subjects that children’s poetry covers. It usually makes me smile to think about something simple in a new way.

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    1. Jessica, I too have enjoyed children's poetry. I thought maybe I just wasn't smart enough for adult poetry, but you might be right that it is the subject matter. Gina

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    2. I agree on this! I find myself enjoying middle-grade fiction more than adult fiction for the same reason. The subject matter is generally less harsh. Perhaps I avoid "difficult" poetry because I just wimp out - I don't think I can muster the brain power or concentration to really appreciate it. - Mary Kathryn

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  8. You know how much I like this. :)

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  9. I do enjoy poetry but don't take the time to read it often. When I read poetry I find myself seeing if I can set it to a tune and sing the poem instead of reading it. My goal this year is to do more reading and Bible studies.

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  10. I love to read my one year Bible but I also feel like I'm reading too fast through it, to get it through. Although I don't do it every (that being one reason), I feel there is great value in doing it sometimes. Chris W.

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I love to hear from you.

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