Reading for Transformation

I thoroughly enjoyed our discussion in class Tuesday. It was deep and got me thinking. Is literature more about the reader or the piece being read? Now, both play a huge part, but I'm starting to think that the reader plays a bigger role than the piece does. Why?
Because you can take something away from anything if you try. Especially being a Christian. In class I made the comment that I would like to see more Christian writers and that I don't know of too many Christian poets. Professor Corrigan stated that he would like to see more Christian readers. And that made me understand that a lot of it has to do with perspective and interpretation. The Christian mind thinks differently than a non-Christian one, and therefore would have some amazing perspectives on things. Why do we not see our interpretations? Where are our voices?
Poetry is deep and full of emotion, experience, and thought. How amazing would it be if some Christians got passionate about literature and started interpreting it in a whole new dimension. I could be way off in my thinking here, but I believe that our perspectives are important.
One of my favorite quotes from the essay was " This turn to sacramental categories of understanding reaffirms that poetry, as an event of meaning, potentially serves as a resonant site of Christian self-expression, prayer, and solidarity in community. As texts for prayer, certain poems invite us into liminal spaces of sacred encounter, where God's grace expands our awareness of the holy within ourselves, our relationships, and our natural world."
Poetry is expansive. It opens us if we let it. Thats what lectio devina allows me to do, open myself. Open myself to a possible understanding that I wouldn't reach unless I read for transformation. Its a conscious decision; to decide to take something away from a text.