Lectio Divina

Lectio Divina, or “sacred reading,” is a way of praying spiritual texts (especially Scripture). It is an ancient Christian discipline that helps the “divine word” sink deeper into our consciousness and helps us spend time healing—enjoying quiet time with God.

1. Read the text—slowly, intentionally. Take your time. Read it over several times.

2. Reflect. What word or phrase in the text caught your attention as you were reading it slowly? You may have to read it several times to really catch the word or phrase that gives you a “little bump” or jolt of recognition. We do not often read like this, so it may take a while for you to feel your own reaction to the text. When you have the word or phrase, focus on it and consider what that word or phrase seems to be saying to you in this moment of prayer.

3. Respond to your thoughts about the word or phrase. Ask God if what you are getting from it is what you need to be getting from it. Offer it to God as praise, or gratitude, or as a request for guidance. Be in dialogue with the word.

4. Relax. After reading the text, reflecting on a portion of it, and responding to the thoughts that came up in your reflection, now relax. Just sit quietly in the divine presence (this may be the most difficult part, but it is so rewarding). Still those wondering thoughts. Quiet all discursive thinking, and just rest in the rich Silence that is the Holy Presence. Sit for a minute, or for twenty. But let it be simple, nourishing quietness, however long it may last.

September 5, 2010

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18

O God, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue, O God, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.
For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed.
How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
I try to count them -- they are more than the sand; I come to the end -- I am still with you.