Some people can sit quietly and just listen, or meditate on one word or phrase, and find that a deep and fulfilling way to pray. I don't feel drawn to that kind of "sitting quietly." Perhaps it's my strong religious heritage of "do, do, do" and "work, work, work." There's a constant drive to produce something from time spent. Besides, my mind has a strong urge to wander and think about a variety of interesting things. I think I'll have to take a step toward sitting quietly, rather than hop into the middle of the metaphorical circle and simply meditate for an hour.
I have also, in the last week, been pondering a personally held belief--the belief that the kinesthetic act of writing by hand does something for a person's soul and learning. Typing on a keyboard does not accomplish this. I have not yet done a review of research literature on this one, and perhaps I should. If there is nothing out there, it would be a good inquiry for some researcher to pursue.
A friend of mine, Skip, has copied the entire Bible over a period of time, as the ancient scribes would do--not in terms of copying in calligraphy, but writing by hand. For a while Skip taught Bible as a subject in Christian schools, and he assigned his students to copy a Bible passage daily by hand. He firmly believes that it is a life-changing act. We were delighted to connect on this topic about a dozen years ago when Skip took a class from me, as I was at that time pursuing a devotional exercise in my life of copying a Bible passage and then journaling on it. I found it a rich experience.
I have let that practice of writing by hand slip away for some years, feeling that typing is faster and one can keep up much better with the pace of one's thoughts. But as I've thought in the past week about the practice of Sitting Quietly, the impression is strong to put the computer to sleep and write by hand as part of my morning devotional time.
And so I shall. I shall be returning to the pre-digital age for a time each day, quieting down, and listening and writing. There is freedom in this.
I think that's a very good idea. If nothing else, your position and posture are different when writing, or at least mine are. I might be more reclined and comfortable, for example. Like you, I'm not prone to do absolutely nothing, but I think the main thing, however we do it, is to step aside when we can.
ReplyDeleteI find I can hardly write my thoughts with a pen any more. I noticed it especially when doing Christmas cards this year. I used to be a big letter writer and, until 3 years ago, I did handwritten documentation in patient charts at work.
ReplyDeleteThere are several reasons I agree with and love this blog post:
ReplyDelete1. Though writing doesn't keep up with the speed of our thoughts as typing does, it forces our mind to slow down. And sometimes...isn't that the point?
2. I believe you internalize things better when a) your brain has slowed to ponder things more and b) you've doubled the internalization by making note of the information both kinesthetically and visually.
3. With your brain slowed a bit you have time to be more creative. For instance, my sister and I, over a distance of around 2,000 miles, got together over the phone once a week a few years back and read each other a passage of Psalms that we had rewritten in our journals (by HAND) in our own words. We'd been keeping journals and having worship thoughts together, but because we slowed down to think a bit, we became a bit more creative with how we did it, trying (and enjoying) something new.
Just my two cents...