One way that I listen for God’s voice is through Lectio Divina (holy reading). However, I had not done that for awhile until a bookmark that outlines this practice fluttered to the floor recently. The instructions are as follows:
Begin by quieting yourself.
Lectio-Slowly read selected passage of scripture.
Meditatio-Read it again, listening for a word or phrase that speaks to you. Meditate on that word or phrase, reflecting on what God may be saying to you through it.
Oratio-Offer your reflections to God in prayer. Pour out to God an honest expression of whatever you feel.
Contemplatio-Rest in God’s presence, making yourself available for whatever God wants or speaks.
Continue to reflect on the meaning of the word or phrase as you return to your everyday activities.
I have found that this practice can help reveal the Word in new and insightful ways, especially during times of stress and confusion. It has helped give me direction to sermon writing and to decision making in my life. I am attempting to reclaim this as a regular discipline. Perhaps you would like to join me in holy reading?
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2 comments:
Your blog entries have become for me a time of "holy readings"--lifting my heart from the hurriedness of the mundane to the peace of the profound. Thank you for reminding me that God is there and that not even the distractions of my day, which cause me to be so frantic, can affect His Presence. His peace comes to many through your beautiful writings, and it is a divine pleasure to share in your ministry.
Your entries have a way of creating and recreating montages of vignettes from my life. Just as I was refamiliarizing myself with the truth of "Lecto Divina", I heard my 8th grade Latin teacher drilling, "Omnes Gallia est dividitas in tres partes." Suddenly,"tres partes" morphed into
"trinity", and a forty year old lesson from a dead language that predated Christ came flooding back
as a comtemporary look at prognostication. Cool. Now I will always hear the old Beatle's song as "Amo te, sic, sic. sic". Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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