This morning I sat on the deck and read Brother Sun, Sister Moon: Saint Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of the Creatures (reimagined by Katherine Paterson, illustrated by Pamela Dalton), a 2011 rendition of St. Francis’ ‘Canticle of the Sun’.
It’s a book worth enjoying, but what I want to share with you is how I took my time, with what I might call, “praying the book”. Slooooooowly I read the words out loud; meticulously I examined the pictures (eventually realizing that they were paper cutting creations).
“Slow down, be in the moment,” I kept telling myself. “Remember, this is a picture book.” My years as a teacher of five and six year olds has left me the reading the words, not the pictures. In fact, even when my students, and later my grandchildren, read to me, I would keep my eyes staring at the text.
This slowing down, this attention to details can happen when we have time to practice, and when we take the time. Solitude and silence help, but simplicity feels like the essential ingredient for this one. There i something about doing things slowly that eliminates both mental and physical clutter, and that is definitely simplicity.
It’s a book worth enjoying, but what I want to share with you is how I took my time, with what I might call, “praying the book”. Slooooooowly I read the words out loud; meticulously I examined the pictures (eventually realizing that they were paper cutting creations).
“Slow down, be in the moment,” I kept telling myself. “Remember, this is a picture book.” My years as a teacher of five and six year olds has left me the reading the words, not the pictures. In fact, even when my students, and later my grandchildren, read to me, I would keep my eyes staring at the text.
This slowing down, this attention to details can happen when we have time to practice, and when we take the time. Solitude and silence help, but simplicity feels like the essential ingredient for this one. There i something about doing things slowly that eliminates both mental and physical clutter, and that is definitely simplicity.