moragmacpherson (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
moragmacpherson) wrote2011-09-13 02:05 pm
moragmacpherson) wrote2011-09-13 02:05 pm
Entry tags:
A curious thought (also, I'm still alive)
Wow - I really haven't posted here in awhile. I'm not exactly sure when/if that will change (I'm in a bit of a transitional period at the moment, it's kind of tl;dr), but I did want to pop in and say hi. I also have a whole lot of comments and feedback that I received over the last two months or so that should have responses - if you're waiting on one, I apologize, but believe me: it wasn't personal. At least it wasn't personal against you, I was just dealing with some personal stuff. I'll see if I can get around to responding sometime in the next week or two.
But, being self-centered as I am, the reason I'm posting (finally) is because I had an odd and I think true thought, but I don't have anyone to share it with. So I'm writing it down. Duh. If you're interested, it's below the cut.
Right now I'm grading summer reading notebooks from AP English students in a Catholic school. Some of the readings included selected portions of the Bible, which they were instructed to read as a literary rather than a sacred work. The point of the assignment is to make sure they're familiar with these stories (they also read a lot of Greek mythology) so that when they come across references to Biblical/mythological stories in their readings over the year, they'll recognize them. It's actually an excellent assignment and one I think more teachers should consider.
Anyway, I just finished looking through the notebook of a student who read the Bible passages as a sacred text. I only dinged them a little (they did read the texts and therefore think about them) mostly because this was not following the directions. And my thought was, "This kid needs to learn how to read the Bible as literature as well as sacred text or else they're going to have huge problems in this class (not to mention appreciating English literature at all)."
But that wasn't the thought that's sticking with me. No, what I just realized is that I can't read a sacred text. Which a lot of you may think is silly, given how many times I've read the Bible and the Qur'an and Hindu epics and Lao Tze etc. But the fact is, I'm always reading them as literature. Sometimes I may approach them as I read, say, a law code, but I've never, not once in my life, read a sacred text. I've even read documents that I revere and respect highly, that are central to my moral and ethical character. Yet I still have never read a sacred text. From the outside, the experience looks like a very limited experience of reading and exploring the world, with arbitrary rules that make no particular sense and I can't even say that it looks particularly appealing to me. But I still have to say that I do feel this absence of experience, and I'm curious about it, and I think I'll have to give greater thought to people who have to spend their lives balancing both sacred and literary/academic readings of texts. It's probably trickier to do than I think.
But, being self-centered as I am, the reason I'm posting (finally) is because I had an odd and I think true thought, but I don't have anyone to share it with. So I'm writing it down. Duh. If you're interested, it's below the cut.
Right now I'm grading summer reading notebooks from AP English students in a Catholic school. Some of the readings included selected portions of the Bible, which they were instructed to read as a literary rather than a sacred work. The point of the assignment is to make sure they're familiar with these stories (they also read a lot of Greek mythology) so that when they come across references to Biblical/mythological stories in their readings over the year, they'll recognize them. It's actually an excellent assignment and one I think more teachers should consider.
Anyway, I just finished looking through the notebook of a student who read the Bible passages as a sacred text. I only dinged them a little (they did read the texts and therefore think about them) mostly because this was not following the directions. And my thought was, "This kid needs to learn how to read the Bible as literature as well as sacred text or else they're going to have huge problems in this class (not to mention appreciating English literature at all)."
But that wasn't the thought that's sticking with me. No, what I just realized is that I can't read a sacred text. Which a lot of you may think is silly, given how many times I've read the Bible and the Qur'an and Hindu epics and Lao Tze etc. But the fact is, I'm always reading them as literature. Sometimes I may approach them as I read, say, a law code, but I've never, not once in my life, read a sacred text. I've even read documents that I revere and respect highly, that are central to my moral and ethical character. Yet I still have never read a sacred text. From the outside, the experience looks like a very limited experience of reading and exploring the world, with arbitrary rules that make no particular sense and I can't even say that it looks particularly appealing to me. But I still have to say that I do feel this absence of experience, and I'm curious about it, and I think I'll have to give greater thought to people who have to spend their lives balancing both sacred and literary/academic readings of texts. It's probably trickier to do than I think.
no subject
More response later--if I give a lengthy reply right now I'll be late for section. Poetry -- that's what comes closest for me as a sacred text.
no subject
I had more to say back earlier today when I sneaked a peak at my phone in between meetings, but now that I've finally made it home I find I'm too tired for deep thinking. Still, I do remember that I wanted to comment that there are secular 'sacred' texts. That is, I think there are secular texts that people experience in the same way as religious texts. (Caveats: not everyone reads sacred texts the same ways, not all texts will have the same meaning or sanctity for all, etc, etc.)
So, for example, the way many react to the Gettysburg Address...and if you want to expand it to secular/sacred places, the Lincoln Memorial. And while I'm thinking of the Lincoln Memorial, I'd also include the I Have a Dream speech.
The way (some) people approach those things/places/texts, whether religious or secular has a kind of meditative quality to it, I think. It reminds me of that bit in firefly, you know: "It's not about making sense. It's about believing in something, and letting that belief be real enough to change your life. It's about faith. You don't fix faith, River. It fixes you. "
In less ramble-y terms, I guess what I'm saying is that I think faith is the key component when approaching something 'sacred' and though that sounds kind of obvious, it is an experience that goes beyond religion. Faith doesn't have to be religious in nature, and so that sacred experience doesn't need to be, exactly, either.
One could simply- say- choose to believe that freedom and equality really are achievable, that it's within our grasp, that people are generally good and kind and that we really can change the world. And even if you can only sustain that belief for short periods of time, when you have that mindset and approach the place or text, it can feel (and perhaps be) very transformative.