Get What You Give

 I think the Psalms of the Bible and the Big Book of AA need to be approached in the same manner.  I have heard people say they read some of each and “got nothing out of it.”  Well, I ask, “What did you put into it?”  These readings are not meant to get information, or to be finished quickly like a novel, or be read for a while and then immediately put down as you go onto something else.  In a sense, “finishing” is never the goal.  Transformation is.  These books must be read in a meditative way.  When something strikes you, stop and just be present to it, the thought, the feeling.  Let the words of the book speak back to you.  So in a sense, I never finish the book.  I put myself into the reading with time, patience, and openness.  I get what I give.