Writing
Down the Words
“Make
your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that
in all your reading have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
Ralph
Waldo Emerson
My
friend, Harry, told me about a journal his daughter, Laura, gave him
for Christmas; leather bound with thongs that wrap around a tie. He
liked the look of it and the feel of it, but hadn't known until now
what to do with it. He's decided to collect quotes that speak to him
and record them in his journal. Harry is an avid reader, and still,
at almost seventy, audits university classes that interest him—world
religions, especially those of the far East, are his great love.
That
got me thinking—I should do the same. I am forever scribbling
quotes from books, from websites, from the Bible, on scraps of paper,
old envelopes, the backs of cash register receipts, whatever is at
hand. If I had simply written into a journal all the quotes I've used
in composing this blog, I'd have have my own “Bible” by now. I've
been reading Thomas Moore's new book, A Religion of One's Own, in
preparation for his visit to Birmingham, May 2-3. He declares that
reading spiritual writers, such as Emerson, Thoreau, Lao Tsu and
others, is a spiritual discipline of its own. He recommends choosing
a book such as On Walden Pond, and reading each
sentence slowly, several times, taking time to truly encounter its
meaning—perhaps reading only a paragraph a day.
I
am such a creature of habit, that I find it difficult to introduce a
new behavior into my schedule—like sitting down during the day to
read. I am a nighttime reader by habit, but then reading makes me
sleepy, so I don't get very far. I am going to cultivate a new
“spiritual discipline” of one hour of daytime reading and writing
of quotes. Revolutionary, right! You've probably been doing this for
years! I'm slow, okay.
I
hope that this Monday morning finds you in great spirits and chomping
at the bit to get your week underway. Have a fabulous day—listen for
trumpet blasts!
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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