Page 139 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 14

Kelvin Mutter (Canada)
Comment to Kelvin F. Mutter
(DTh, MTh, MTS,
“Deep Spiritual Reading in BA, BTh) is Asso-
ciate Professor of
the Digital Age “ Counselling and
Spiritual Care at
McMaster Divini-
One of the fascinating effects of the COVID-19 ty College at Mc-
pandemic is the way the world has progressi- Master University,
vely been forced to slow down. This temporary Hamilton, ON,
slower lifestyle has released some people to do Canada.
things that had been crowded out because of the Kelvin also works part-time in a psychology
busy-ness of their lives; e.g., bake bread, garden, clinic. Over the past three years Kelvin has
write letters, etc. Others, however, have chafed been rediscovering the benefits of slowing
at the isolation and seeming lack of producti- and reflecting.
vity. Meanwhile the response of the remaining
population has been somewhere between these Former contributions in our eJournal by
poles. It is against this background that I recei- Kelvin you can see her:
ved and read Johannes Haack’s article. While https://emcapp.ignis.de/7/#/72
my first impulse was to read the article quickly
appreciation for this multidisciplinary reflec-
tion on the practice of reading, and particularly The third theme, theological reflection, is in-
spiritual reading deepened through the practice troduced in the third section where the tone of
of slow reading. his reflections establish that this article is about
Christian Psychology rather than integrating
Although the act of reading can sometimes be psychology and theology or Biblical Counse-
taken for granted, especially by those who read, ling. Beginning with this section and running
the first theme introduced by Haack is that the throughout the text Haack affirms that Christi-
simple act of reading is not straightforward. an spirituality is not defined in terms of either
Haack draws on scientific research to illustrate the individual or a set of rites but rather the
the effects of reading on the brain; the reader’s relationship between the individual and God.
perception of self, others, and their context; This acknowledgement of relational spirituality
and, the challenges posed by digital texts (sec- is reflected in the author’s reference to Bohren’s
tions 1, 4, 8, & 9). These insights invite the rea- concept of theonomous reciprocity. It also in-
der to reflect on the potential implications of forms his comment that “The spiritual exercises
this research for the act of spiritual reading. are an internalised spiritual reality in which the
inner attitude of the heart is much more impor-
Spiritual reading, the core theme for this es- tant than the technique if we are to lead a truly
say, is introduced in section 2 and explored in spiritual life.”
sections 5—7. Through these reflections Haack
highlights continuity and change in the practice Haack’s discussion of the practices of spiritual
of spiritual reading, and particularly the prac- reading in general, and particularly the practice
tice of Lectio Divina, from the 12th century to of deep spiritual reading in a digital age plaits
the present. His use of Johnson’s six-step mo- the three themes identified above—i.e., the fin-
dified Lectio Divina highlights the importance dings of neuroscience, the practice of Lectio
of two historically implicit components of the Divina, and theological reflection—into a single
practice of spiritual reading—withdrawal from braided argument. His description of the dif-
distraction and action—that are easily lost on ferences between reading a physical book and
those who are focused on action and achieve- reading a digital text are thought provoking—
ment. particularly the danger of distraction when rea-
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