As we Christians seek to follow Jesus more closely, we are encouraged to read the Bible. But we church leaders don’t always do a good job of teaching people how to read scripture! You can certainly simply read a passage and then go about your day, of course. But one of my favorite ways to read scripture is Lectio divina, which is Latin for “Sacred reading.” It is a way of spending time with a passage of scripture in such a way that one can get more nourishment out of it. The ancient monk Guigo II described the practice as being like a cow chewing its cud!
There are traditionally four steps in Lectio divina, each beginning with reading the passage out loud. During the lectio (reading) stage, we focus on the literal, objective meaning of the text. This step is important in order to ground our practice in the original context of the passage. If we jump to interpreting the text too quickly, we can become unmoored and potentially twist the passage to mean whatever we want. A study bible like The New Oxford Annotated Bible can be helpful here.
After this step, we come to meditatio (meditation), when we move beyond objective meanings and begin to interpret the text, making connections to our lives and world today. During the oratio (prayer) stage, we notice the feelings and emotions that are arising in us, our fears and frustrations as well as our hopes and desires. We offer these feelings and impulses and concerns to God in prayer. Finally, the contemplation (contemplation) step moves beyond the previous stages to a place of stillness and quiet. This can be described as “resting in God.”
It is important to note that the practice is not rigid – one may move back and forth between the stages often throughout the exercise. Also, I usually add an extra step – incarnatio or incarnation. How will you respond to the experience of Lectio divina as you go about your life?
I invite you to try this method of reading scripture sometime, and I’m happy to answer any questions you may have about it. And if you’d like to practice Lectio divina with a wonderful group of people, I invite you to join us for the Insight Bible Study and Prayer Service on Tuesday evenings from 6:15 to 7:45 pm! (https://zoom.us/my/holyapostles)
