FAITH MATTERS

Lectio Divina inspires

Slow, deliberate reading yields connection to God

When we first joined St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Fayetteville, one of the supports for spiritual formation was a daily email from the rector, the Rev. Lowell Grisham, called "Morning Reflections." Each email provided a list of that day's lectionary readings, along with brief reflections from Lowell. This summer, the church began inviting interested parishioners to volunteer to take turns writing them. This involves reading that day's passage from the Old Testament, some Psalms, an Epistle and a reading from the Gospel, and then writing a paragraph or two of personal reflection. I signed up to write a "Morning Reflection" about once a month, and I am finding it a very interesting experience.

I grew up with very little knowledge of the Bible, and what little I knew seemed righteous and judgmental. When people would quote the Bible, it was often to win an argument rather than to inspire. I tried several times to take on a regular practice of reading the Bible, but I kept running into statements that seemed so wrong and hateful. I never made it all the way through. The opportunity to write an occasional "Morning Reflection" for the St. Paul's congregation gave me the possibility for a more positive relationship with Scripture. I decided to take on my writing of the "Morning Reflection" as a way to practice Lectio Divina (Latin for "Divine Reading").

Lectio Divina is a slow, contemplative, deliberate reading of a passage of Scripture. The practice comes from the Benedictine tradition, and the intent is to promote communion with God. Rather than seeing the Scripture readings as texts to be studied, the readings are seen as the Living Word, and as having direct inspiration for us in our lives at this moment.

There are four movements in Lectio Divina: lectio, meditatio, oratio and contemplatio. Translated from the Latin, these are: read, meditate, pray and contemplate.

• Read: Because the purpose of this practice is to invite a connection to God, it is helpful to be still before reading and to perhaps invite the Holy Spirit to guide your reading of the sacred words. The passage is read slowly -- and in the Benedictine approach -- it is read four times. Listen for the "still, small voice" that tells you a particular word or phrase is just for you.

• Meditate: Rather than trying to assign meaning to the passage, in your meditation and ponderings, you can listen for guidance from Spirit and allow yourself to sense what the message is for your life at this moment. Allow the words or phrases to interact with your inner world of memories and associations.

• Pray: Prayer is dialogue with God, sharing your concerns, questions and gratitude. The Rev. Luke Dysinger, a Benedictine monk, writes, "Experience God by using the word or phrase he has given you as a means of blessing and of transforming the ideas and memories that your reflection on his word has awakened. Give to God what you have found within your heart."

• Contemplate: This fourth and final movement is a silent prayer that expresses love for God. Dysinger describes it as resting in God's embrace.

When I first read the assigned Scriptural passages for the "Morning Reflections," I felt dismayed. It seemed that all of the passages were about death and destruction God rained down on his people because of their wickedness. Even when they were not wicked, he felt displeasure with them and dried up the springs and caused deserts to form. I expect this from the Old Testament -- where I was taught that God was an angry and punishing God. Yet, as I do the Lectio Divina, I find passages in the Old Testament that speak deeply of faith, even when it seems as if God has hidden his face.

I was also taught that the New Testament is the expression of a more merciful, compassionate and loving God. But then I read I Corinthians, in which Paul exhorts the newly formed Christian community to avoid idolatry and cravings or they will suffer the punishment of God, who killed 23,000 Israelites in one day. Love and fear historically existed side by side in the Judeo-Christian tradition, and it seems they still do today.

When I meditated on these passages, I associated them with the death and destruction of the hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and fires occurring in our own time. There have been headlines in the news about people proclaiming that God has sent this devastation as punishment for the sins of homosexuality and immorality. It's interesting that there are no headlines about the sins of greed or hubris -- which seem to me to be causing a lot more problems than sexual orientation or identity. On deeper reflection, I found myself connecting to people of Biblical times, who wondered why God was hiding his face. In one of the Psalms, David asks God to awake and help. In a passage from Matthew, the disciples ask Jesus to awake and help in the midst of the storm. I, too, wish God would awake and help.

In the third Lectio Divina movement, I prayed, asking God to relieve this suffering and to help humanity to wake up to our role in creating the challenges we are experiencing. One phrase that stood out for me is from Psalm 44: "Rescue us because of your unfailing love." It reminded me, that even though I might not see God's hand in things, his essence is love and I can trust that.

This awareness of God's essence as love brings me to the final movement of this practice of Divine Reading: contemplation and the love of God. If I can occasionally drop into this place of peace, in the midst of chaos, I might have the chance to allow myself to be guided by Spirit to do whatever it is that is mine to do in these difficult times.

NAN Religion on 10/07/2017

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