A Little Lectio

Beloved in Christ,

This Sunday we will have the opportunity to learn, engage, and practice the art of Lectio Divina. This means “Divine reading” and is functionally the act of reading the scripture in a deep state of prayer.

It is contemplative. It is mysterious

It is a means of engaging the Holy Scriptures by letting God’s word speak to us - rather than we to it. 

So frequently I attend to the Bible as something to be figured out, studied, understood. I impose my will, my mind, my effort onto the text. I do try, as best I can, to do this prayerfully but this process is quite academic. It’s a “doers” way to approach the Bible.

And I think many of us, culturally, engage our holy text in this manner.

Lectio however, is a method of letting the Holy Scriptures happen to us, rather than we to it. It is an ancient practice dating back to the 6th century in the Rule of St. Benedict.

The Anglican Communion Office has a lovely information sheet about Lectio, and notes that “it is a way of praying the scriptures that lead us deeper into God’s word. We slow down. We read a short passage more than once. We chew it over slowly and carefully. We savour it. Scripture begins to speak to us in a new way.”

Lectio invokes the Holy Spirit to act on our imagination and mind, to put us within the text, to experience the text, and to experience God speaking to us from the text.

This is a simple practice, and I hope to begin offering it once a month.

And though it is simple, it is also absolutely profound.

For more information on Lectio Divina, I commend to you the information sheet from the Anglican Communion Office by clicking here.

Yours in Christ,

Alex+