“Slow Reading: Seeing the Savior in the Scriptures,” Liahona, Jan. 2024.
Slow Reading: Seeing the Savior in the Scriptures
Borrowing this approach from art can help us see Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon.
La Pietà, by Michelangelo
It took Michelangelo over a year to create La Pietà, a stunning sculpture of Mary holding Jesus’s body after the Crucifixion. Leonardo da Vinci spent even longer, about three years, painting his famous depiction of The Last Supper.
If you had to guess, how long would you say a visitor to an art museum spends—on average—looking at each work of art?
The answer is 17 seconds, according to one study.1
Imagine: 17 seconds looking at a work of art that the artist may have spent years creating.
It’s understandable. There are hundreds of paintings and sculptures in a museum, and we’re busy people. So we hurry through and take in as much as we can. Ironically, driven by our fear of missing something, we end up missing the very purpose of the art—the emotions and thoughts the artists wanted us to experience. We pass our eyes over every piece in the museum, but we truly see none of them. Then we leave the museum exhausted and uninspired. We may even wonder what people see in art anyway—convinced, perhaps, that art is for the highly educated, not for everyone.
Slow Looking
To address this problem, art museums around the world are encouraging visitors to practice something they call “slow looking.”2 They invite people to pick one work of art in the museum, get comfortable, and examine it carefully for a while—5 to 10 minutes. Look at it from different angles. Step in close to notice details. Step back and take it in as a whole. Sometimes, visitors are even told not to read the museum’s interpretive sign that analyzes the artwork—at least, not until they’ve had a chance to form their own opinions and make their own discoveries.
Slow looking has transformed the art museum experience for many people. Some who never considered themselves art lovers have become passionate about art. They gain confidence that they can discover meaning in any work of art, and they find joy in what they discover. They learn that they don’t need a college degree in art history to be moved by art; they just need to slow down and give the art a chance to do what it was created to do.
Could the same principles apply to reading the scriptures—for example, to our Come, Follow Me study of the Book of Mormon this year?
We know that the Book of Mormon, as another testament of Jesus Christ, was written with the intent to strengthen our faith in the Savior (see 1 Nephi 6:4). We know that it was written by inspired prophets of God, specifically for our day (see, for example, Mormon 8:35). We know that the ancient prophets who wrote the Book of Mormon did so at great personal sacrifice. Just the process of engraving words on metal plates was painstaking and laborious (see Jacob 4:1). And some of them risked their lives to preserve the record so it would be available to us today (see Mormon 6:6; Moroni 1).
Yet sometimes, in our busyness, we rush through our reading of the Book of Mormon. Maybe we scan a few verses over breakfast or on the way to work. We might pass our eyes over every word in a chapter, but not much of it sinks in. Not every time, but sometimes, we close the book or the app feeling no different than we felt when we started.
Slow Reading
If a work of fine art deserves to be appreciated through slow looking, maybe the Book of Mormon deserves our “slow reading.” That doesn’t necessarily mean our scripture study needs to take longer, just that we might benefit from a change of pace. Rather than hurrying to finish a chapter, maybe today’s study focuses on only three or four verses. But we really immerse ourselves in those verses. We notice details, words, and phrases. We ponder why each might be important—does it teach me something about the Savior? Does it deepen my love for Him and my faith in Him? Is there something He wants me to know?
Slow reading allows us to notice things in the Book of Mormon that we wouldn’t otherwise notice. Most important, it can help us see the Savior more frequently in this book that was written to testify of Him. Slow reading is a way to open our eyes, minds, and hearts to the Book of Mormon’s powerful testimony of Jesus Christ. An inspiring work of art, when we take time to truly see it, can be life changing. In an even more profound way, seeing the Savior in the scriptures can deeply influence our thoughts and feelings—and, consequently, our lives.
For example, suppose you’re reading 1 Nephi chapter 1. Your attention is drawn by verse 6, so you slow down and linger there for a while. You might be drawn to the “pillar of fire” Lehi saw that “dwelt upon a rock.” That’s unusual behavior for a fire. What could that mean? Your thoughts might go to other pillars of fire mentioned in the scriptures (the footnotes could help you there). You might ponder why the Lord’s presence is so often compared to fire. What does that say about Him? Has He ever been like a pillar of fire in your life?
It’s a lot to think about. And you haven’t even finished the verse yet.
There is, of course, value in reading through the Book of Mormon quickly. It can help us learn the overall story line and pick up on broad, recurring themes. But there is much to learn about Jesus Christ in the details of the Book of Mormon, and sometimes the best way to see those details is to slow down and look carefully.
Nephi said of the words he wrote in the Book of Mormon, “These words … are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and … Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words” (2 Nephi 33:10–11). You don’t have to be a skilled reader to find the Savior’s words in the Book of Mormon. You just have to slow down and give the Book of Mormon a chance to do what it was created to do—build your faith in Jesus Christ.