What I Can Expect to See

This morning I am thinking about something I heard myself say while I was sitting with my young mentor student.  The adorable Kindergartner loves for me to read stories to her, and it has been delightful to observe her take an increasingly active role in the “reading” over time.  Initially, she just told me flat out, “I don’t know how to read.”  She would focus her attention solely on the pictures while I would read the words.  But now she is starting to pay more attention to the words, pointing out the words she recognizes in some of her favorite picture books.  I know that, eventually, she will be reading chapter books and novels that have no pictures at all.  Then she’ll have to use only words to form pictures in her mind.  Lately I’ve been trying to arm her with the strategy of using picture cues to help with reading even more words.  For example, if she sees the words “The dog can eat,” she can expect to see a dog eating somewhere in the picture.  So, we have been practicing this new skill of checking the picture to see if it matches what the words say.  While reading a book with a counting pattern the other day, she recognized one of the number words.  Before taking a look at the picture, I asked her, “What does the word say?”  Immediately in my spirit, I knew that the same question was being asked of me by my Teacher:  “What does the Word say?”  All too often I get lazy, and I focus my attention solely on the pictures…those things that I can see and perceive with my natural eyes.  And, like an immature reader, I begin to just make things up, based on the story I think the picture is telling.  But, as I continue to develop in spiritual maturity, I realize I must increasingly pay attention to the Word.  It is the Word that determines the picture, not vice versa.  If the Word says “peace and healing” I can expect to see peace and healing.  If the Word says, “grace and favor,” I can expect to see grace and favor.  My reflection today is that there is always a purpose for reading—to gain understanding, to make connections, to acquire and apply knowledge, or maybe just to relax and enjoy.  The more Word I know, the better I will be able to do all of these things.  I will be a much better “reader,” in a spiritual sense.  And, for the times when there is only the Word, I will find that I have the power to make the pictures manifest.