Back to Basics-The Art of Learning How to Chew Again
As a child, when solids are introduced, you’re taught things like chewing with your mouth closed, chewing enough times so you don’t choke, etc. You are not trained to eat to savor your food; you’re not taught to enjoy the different flavors you’re experiencing, probably for the first time, or the colors of the foods you’re ingesting. I certainly don’t remember teaching my boys any of that as I taught them to eat. Most of us continue to go through life this way: eating for nourishment, sticking to plain flavors, and not really experiencing our food. We live in such a fast-paced culture that eating is a thing we have to do and not something we feel passionate about or take the time to enjoy. Very rarely do we stop to think about the ingredients in our meals, how they were made, and what flavors we taste when we are chewing; we often do not even think about who prepared our meals.
As I have gotten older, I have been forced to be more aware of the things I eat due to food intolerances, and while that may seem like a negative thing, it has taken food to a whole new level. I chew slower, I am mindful of the ingredients I am ingesting, how they are cooked, what foods are healthier, etc., and as a result, I now enjoy food. I have learned to chew my food and enjoy what I am ingesting; food has become an experience!
As I read Adler and Van Doren’s “How to Read a Book”, I realized that I have been chewing books incorrectly. Their insights on how to approach reading in a more intentional and comprehensive way have left me thinking I need to go back and read most of the books I read growing up to try and discover what more I could have gained from them, had I been reading as an active process, rather than a passive one. I do understand that not everything has to be read in the same way and with the same effort. Because let’s face it, who has time for that reading in this day and age? Some books should be mastered, chewed, and digested in order to actively engage with what the author is trying to tell us.
The authors have four rules for us as we read and approach any book:
- Classify the book
- What is the book about?
- Organize its major parts
- What are the problems the author is trying to solve?
Adler and Van Doren emphasize that reading has to be a dialogue between the reader and the author. They believe we must actively engage with the text, ask questions, and even critique what we are reading rather than passively absorb the information. They stress that readers should not just passively accept information but evaluate the arguments and ideas presented, checking for logical consistency and evidence. How to Read a Book also stresses the importance of practice and reflection; the more you read critically, the better you become at understanding and being exposed to complex ideas. This book isn’t just a manual on reading but a philosophy of reading. It teaches us that reading is a skill that requires active engagement, and it provides tools to help us as readers become more discerning and thoughtful consumers.
Overall, the goal of this book might have been to provide us with tools as we learn to read and study, but the most critical thoughts this reading has led me to ask myself are: have I chewed, digested, and actively engaged with the author of my life? Have I actively engaged with Him and His word? Have I asked the hard questions and critiqued all that I have read, or have I passively just accepted the things that don’t make sense or don’t have explanations? Have I been too busy to stop and really savor the words I have read? Have I ingested its ingredients and, at times, colorful and troublesome stories? Have I read for the sake of quick nourishment or to be genuinely enriched? Truth be told, I am not sure! I am tempted to think I have to go back to basics and learn how to chew again if I am to really be intentional about what the author of my life is trying to tell me through His story. If I have been intentional about watching what I eat and how I eat it, and if I have started to chew slower to savor my food, why wouldn’t I do that with the word of God? If slowing down and being more intentional about what I eat has made food an experience, I can only imagine how the word of God will taste if I am intentional about its words, stories, advice, and ingredients for my life.
About the Author
Linda Mendez
12 responses to “Back to Basics-The Art of Learning How to Chew Again”
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Linda, I appreciate your analogy. I will often eat (chew) out of habit and necessity, falling short of the ideal that eating can be savoring and sustaining. Can the analogy be extended? How do we make required reading more than just caloric intake? If I am honest in a rather public forum, our next book edited by Meyer and Land looks a bit like liver and onions: possibly good for me but not appealing. I think Adler has something to say on this perspective and am curious where you land.
Linda, it is encouraging to hear of another student who questions the way that they have been “chewing” on books. Odd thing is, I don’t ever remember being challenged during formal schooling about the different ways of reading. It seems as though that could be a game-changing piece in many lives if it was a prerequisite class early in secondary learning.
It’s great to hear your reflections about engaging in God’s word. As you begin to engage with that differently, where do you think you will start?
Darren, I completely agree with you, my undergrad and grad career could have been so much easier had someone taken the time to teach me how to read. Seems all throughout our school life we are taught the opposite, read it all, take it in, highlight, takes notes and now here we are being told we have been doing it wrong all along. Seems that if we would have been taught to push back, question, enjoy the essence of the books we were reading, we could have walked away with further understanding of what we were reading.
As I compare that to my chewing and learning of the Bible, I can’t help but wonder how much sooner I could have experienced Christ. Not to say that I should not be held accountable but growing up I was taught to read, trust and obey which made me resist what I was reading. I wonder how much more enjoyable the Bible would be if we taught our kids early on to question, challenge and seek further? For me, I feel that’s where I will start, challenging and questioning the things I was too afraid to seek out further.
It would be really interesting to see How to Read a Book adapted and taught as a Bible study method! You are correct that we are taught not to wrestle with God’s word, as though He would be offended by our attempt to come to terms with it.
A short comment from me to say that I enjoyed the analogy of chewing as a description of the approach to reflect, engage with and meditate on concepts or new information. I was reminded of the Bible verse using The Message version of Psalm 1:2 that says,
‘You chew on Scripture day and night
You’re a tree replanted in Eden,
bearing fresh fruit every month,
Never dropping a leaf,
always in blossom’.
The description in that translation is exactly what you are reflecting on. The concept of learning to chew on God’s word and the impact that could have on our lives if we prioritised that.
Thanks for the thoughts and the metaphor!
Linda,
What an incredible analogy! Once we pass a certain age, do we consider ourselves to have mastered chewing? We likely never consider it at all. I wonder if we will reach reading mastery in such a way that it becomes a natural habit that we don’t have to ponder much? I sure hope so! Here’s to chewing well this semester.
I certainly hope we learn how to chew these books we will be reading this qtr properly and that we learn how to do it quickly. I tend to resist change, specially when I feel I’m being forced to it but I want to trust the process and walk away with a new found love and joy for reading and learning. Here is to trusting the process!
Linda, I will share that your post struck a chord. The chewing exercise can be just that—an exercise or habit. As you further highlight that analogy, has your reading become just an exercise? For me it has in many ways. I can clearly hear my mother’s voice ring out, “Chew your food before you swallow,” or even my childhood best friend sharing that his mom would make him chew 12 times before swallowing. Unless you are focused and disciplined eating (and reading) can become more of a drill than true nourishment. There is no savoring.
With what you have read, does Adler even require us to look upstream and through his philosophy even demand that we ask what we are chewing? To look at the menu and potentially limit even what arrives at the table?
Michael,
I would say Adler does want us to look upstream and ask the question: what are we chewing? He does encourage us to look at the menu and decide what should make it to our table but how do we decide what we wanna eat if we haven’t been taught how to order? My hope is that by the end of this class, we will actually process how to read, how to decide what’s worth reading, how to order from the menu!
Linda, what a great metaphor. It certainly is alluded to by Adler, but not as nearly deliciously (word of the week from Betsy) as you have. You are so right! I can’t begin to remember when I learned to eat and I can’t remember when I was taught to read. It was always considered that I would just eat and that I would learn to read. The pedagogy was very much the same. Sit here. Eat this. It didn’t matter what it was. I ate it. I was raised by parents who were raised in the depression years. If it was on the table. I ate it.
I know that all metaphors eventually break down, as does this one, but the fundamentals are very similar. “Sit down,” and read this book created little curiosity for my weak, distracted little mind. In the end, I was seldom nourished by what I read.
Adler and Van Doren’s book has certainly challenged me to consider what it is that I am nourishing my mind with and to take much more seriously what it means to read a book as a form of growth rather than as a simple amusement.
Linda, I love your example of chewing with your mouth closed! It’s so true, and we can apply that to reading. All my life, I have read books in a certain way and only one way. I was always afraid to try new things, but I’m grateful for the chance to try something different this time. Thank you for your awesome post.
Great analogy, Linda. And I resonate with the idea of being mindful of the flavors and ingredients that we are ingesting. It is a parallel to the type of content we ingest and what it does to our pysche. Definitely food for thought even as I seek to become a better reader.