Off and on for a long while now I have been working on hand copying the Bible. I am about 3/4 of the way through Genesis, and started doing this simply as a discipline, like the manual labor of the Desert Fathers. As such, it has been very fruitful to pay attention to what thoughts arise as I do this tedious work.
There are MANY distractions. Like: I should just read a Psalm? I love that earthy poetry so much more than I love copying this earthy genealogy. Or: should I play with switching the way I do my lower-case "a's"?
But many beautiful insights often come as well, and in surprising places when I force myself to slow down and engage with the text in this way. One of the most common blessings has been one I, given my own inclinations and interests, desperately need: I often think of some words of encouragement for others. This, I hope, helps them as I pause to shoot them a quick email or give them a call, and then get back to my self-imposed copyist work. But it also helps me appreciate the depth of the people around me and how blessed I am to have the opportunity to steward these relationships.
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