Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Relating to Reading Transformation

I really related a lot personally to the reading assigned, "Reading For Transformation through Poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins." There were many ideas and topics that the author discussed that really related to me personally.
He really started right off relating to me by talking about the fact that something may sound great but not have the clearest meaning for one to grasp. I find myself read poetry and notice the magnificent word usage within the poem but still have no idea what the poet was talking about or explaining. His use of lectio devina for poetry made me wonder why I had never used it before when reading poetry. I remember using it for literature in class once or twice but since then it completely slipped my mind. Maybe it's because I just accepted the idea of me not being able to find out the true meaning of the poetry, but truly if I dug deeper and possibly used lectio devina as a tool and not just a devotional I could unlock all sorts or ideas and meanings within poetry that I have never discovered.
The author brought up another process to use in reading that was very familiar to me personally. It was the process of discovering the world of the text, the world behind the text and before the text. As the author mentioned many preachers use this method when preparing messaged; as a college student preparing to be a minister I personally have used this method when preparing my messages or when I am breaking down the meaning and context of the scripture.
I very much enjoyed the author's breakdown of how knowing the world's of the text help bring us closer to the true meanings of the text and poetry. How much more awesome will the readings of poetry be? If we can truly breakdown the text we can truly learn the poets meanings.

2 comments:

  1. Lectio divina has definitely helped me in my reading and it looks like you've benefited from it too. Great post!

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