I tried a different approach to the Book of Mormon this year. A friend told me that she does this at the first of each year, so I thought I would try it. Beginning on January 1st, I read 10 pages in the Book of Mormon each day. I finished the last pages of Moroni just a few days ago.
Part of the reason is the desire to read the whole book in one calendar year. The Young Women's Virtue Value experiences asks us to read the book as one of the experiences, and we have been challenged to do the Virtue Value as mothers and grandmothers.
I had been in Mosiah at the end of 2009, so I left my bookmark there and started over with my speed reading method. It wasn't a particularly satisfying method, but I wanted to try it at least once.
We're often encouraged from various sources to set time goals in our scripture reading. President Hinckley asked us a few years ago to read the whole Book of Mormon in just a few months. It was a challenge that ended up blessing the whole church. But that doesn't mean that we need to continue to push our way through the scriptures as if the same challenge exists. We are not involved in a contest. The goal is not to read the book the fastest, or the most times, but to "treasure up" the Word, to "feast". When we push quickly through our reading, it's more like a food-eating contest. How many hot dogs can we consume in 5 minutes? Is there any nutritional value to stuffing those hot dogs down our throat? Did we enjoy the flavor, and savor the taste? Compare that to the way a gourmet food judge eats a meal. He takes tiny bites and holds the food in his mouth, discerning the various flavors therein. He takes his time. He savors the food. He is truly feasting.
Now I'm back to my slower method of reading. I put a little post it note at my spot. I take one verse and look at it a phrase at a time. I ask why it was put there, what does it really mean, why that word was used, and sometimes look in the TG to see all the references on that subject. It's so much more satisfying!
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I agree. I've speedread the Book of Mormon 3 times in the last year and a half in response to various challenges. It gives a great overview and a better sense of the history, but skimming over all the doctrine is tough.
ReplyDeleteIt is very true that you get so much more out of it when you read slowly and ponder. But I think the fast read done regularly also gives you a different perspective. A friend of mine who taught seminary many years used to do "Book of Mormon in a day" with her class before the end of each school year. They would start very early in the morning and read solid through beginning to end in one day. They read very fast and took turns reading out loud and had pizza delivered and ate lots of snacks and didn't leave until they were done.
ReplyDeleteIt had several advantages. Two of them are: 1. It was usually the kids' first time to read the whole thing and they had a ball doing it, so it gave them a positive memory to associate with the Book of Mormon. 2. And I think this is the most important, you get an overview doing it this way that you don't always get when you focus on each verse. You see more clearly the rise and fall effect of the pride cycle. You see more clearly the lessons that Mormon is trying to communicate over and over, and you see the purpose of the whole book for us in our day.
Every year my friend commented on how painful it was to do it so fast, and every year said she wouldn't do it ever again, but as long as she taught, the kids talked her into it and every year she said her testimony was increased because of it, in spite of how painful it was.
So even thought you don't get the same benefit as the good, slow, contemplative read, I think it is a good exercise once a year. I think I'll try it. But not right now. Maybe next year.