A course in Spiritual Direction, which is my scholarly pursuit at this time, is leading me to read a new and interesting line of books. I am meeting on those pages scholars and thinkers I have never been exposed to before and for the most part it is challenging and expanding my thinking.
That said this book I have just finished was a two month slog, through only 175 pages.
A little explanation perhaps of the course, may help your understanding. In this course we are required to read but the number of books has some great leeway for each of the assignments over the year. The focus is not so much on regurgitating the learning as it is on reflecting about the journey the reading has taken us on. A new and wonderful concept for me in academia, which I have finally begun to relax in.
For this particular segment, the books I wanted to read from the book list were not available so I took one which was not a first choice. While I found gems in it, there were pages I had to read, read again and then read again. Even then I often could not understand what was being said. I sometimes thought the book might have given a list of prerequisite readings so the train of thought and references could be better understood. I also wondered if the writer was so enamored with her own thoughts that she only wanted a showcase for them rather than a place where others could learn. Her poems reminded me of a saying I heard once: “They are so spiritually minded, they are of no earthly good.”
In short it was horrible but then perhaps it was me. Maybe my mind is just not in the right space to receive what was written. Maybe my lack of concentration is something I need to address and find solutions for. Perhaps my expectations of the book based on it’s title were different than what it really was…or maybe it was just a really poorly written book and I should stop beating myself up.
As I read the assignment I actually have no clue how to apply what I read to the questions asked. I am baffled about how to finish the work.
Wish me luck as I try to make sense of this assignment.
Note about the image: When I googled “hard to read” it never occurred to me there would be so many images. Thanks to Invisible Creature’s T-shirt for this one.
Spilt Milk 