Reading for Transformation... by Francis X. McAloon (SJ)

“The encounter described here [in Sandra Schneiders’ The Revelatory Text] goes beyond the accumulation of new data or the enjoyment of aesthetic experience, to focus attention upon the reader’s reappropriation of self.”

This quote from the reading strikes me particularly because of the way it challenges the reader. So often today it is difficult to find a person who even merely reads for pleasure, let alone reading something that they choose to grow from. I say “choose” because that is exactly what it is; we have the choice whether or not to let something affect us.

This text particularly focuses on the practice known as lectio divina. This is a method was originally used by monks to study scripture, but it is now widely practiced for a variety of texts. The purpose is to better understand the message that is being conveyed; not just cognitively, but spiritually, emotionally, and even socially.

Schneider stresses the impact on more than just cognitive gain. Personally I think this is because we don’t think about things in that way; instead we let it impact us in ways that alter how we interact with life. Does this mean we remember the text necessarily? No, but the point of the text is not to remember page numbers or lines; the primary goal is more than that.

Reading for pleasure or mere knowledge (I say mere knowledge in the sense that it is only knowledge, I do not intend to belittle the gain of knowledge, nor do I think this is the goal of the author) is great, but if we invested the same amount of zeal in applying this text to ourselves and use it to “reappropriate” our internal self there would be an explosion of effects. We would be changed which would affect those around us who would affect those around them and thus forth.

Lectio divina is more than just a spiritual practice and can be used habitually in everyday life, even that novel sitting next to your pillow.