Regathering Fruits of Lectio

It is hard to put Lectio Divina into words. God speaks to us in Scripture, we speak to Him in prayer, and these back and forth encounters weave into and through our everyday lives.

"I must admit," wrote one of you, "that when I first heard about Lectio Divina, I was intimidated thinking that it was a practice that only a few could master along with the great saints.  But as I am learning more and more everyday, it can be very simple and maybe even something that I have been doing all along and was unaware.  Maybe it can be as easy as sitting in a favorite chair in peace and silence and feeling the love of God envelop me.. feeling His greatness and my smallness and dependence.  I think this is something that we can all master..."

"We are not always going to have an experience," said someone else; "the scriptures will not always speak to us at that specific moment... it may even be quite dry. We may find that nothing struck us, but a few days later that particular verse will come to mind. There are times when I read a verse and it does strike me, but I don't have any particular words to say so I will sit quietly in God's Presence. It will be different for each unique soul."

Others had the following things to say:

"Scripture not just contained in praying time, but weaving throughout the circumstances of our whole day."

"Monastic life seems to be simply life itself, lived more intentionally, lived symbolically.... it confirms that what has been in my own heart is something real, something that can harmonize with my vocation to married life and motherhood."

"For various reasons (some known to  me some unknown), opening the Sacred Scriptures is a challenge for me... I do love the Bible and there was a time in my life when my relationship with the written word of God was strong and healthy. This gives me hope for what is to come, though I also know that things will necessarily be different now than they were in the past. A renewal of active love for Sacred Scripture seems to be the resolution God is leading me to."

"He puts in front of us what we need...whether those words speak to our hearts at the time, later in the day, or maybe even a few days later."

"I am happy to learn that I have maybe been practicing lectio on some level, as I have begun my morning with scripture and prayer for many years.  In a very loosey-goosey unguided kind of way. But I like the suggestion to re-read scripture several times, pray and reread, and will begin tomorrow."

"My prayer life has been unfolding ten-fold. It's been a quiet, gentle process and feels very natural. I have begun following the Divine Office online with morning prayers and night prayers. I love to listen along to the podcast (especially the night prayers). It gives me a sense of community, joining the universal church in prayer, while still having that private prayer time I crave."  

"I often will find myself drawn to one word  or phrase that then becomes my prayer for one day or more. A long as I feel moved to pray it, I do that. Often the need for that prayer is made known, sometimes not. But it is a kind of way of  'praying without ceasing.'"

"The prayer weaves in and out of my days."

"Your suggestion of writing down or journaling what we hear in Scripture on a given day is an excellent one. Our techy gadgets can keep us grounded in Scripture too. Yesterday as I was praying one of the Offices for the day, a verse from one of the Psalms struck me. I put it into the Memo feature on my phone and returned to it throughout the day. It helped to keep that grille work in place!"

"Rosalind Moss once referred to Scripture as God's love letter to us."

"Today's gospel was a huge smack in the head, a good one. It made me realize that even though I stop giving chase to Him (neglecting my prayer life), He never stops His."

(click here for an explanation of lectio divina from Catholic Spiritual Direction)

This is a repost from our archives. It is linked to Reconciled to You and Theology is a Verb for 'It's Worth Revisiting Wednesday.'
 

© TheCloisteredHeart.org

The Dazzling Simplicity of Lectio

What a gift God has given us in Scripture.  What a blessing He continues to give as He opens our hearts to His Word, shedding light into all our dark corners, giving us personal love and peace and truth.  

Yesterday I had a touch of "lectio" without a Bible in front of me.  Having spent a fair amount of time with Scripture over the years, I'm privileged to now have some key chapters committed to memory.  Memorization is something I'm glad to have in my "box of prayer tools" when I find myself with time to pray but no access to a Bible - like once when I was lying in an MRI tube.

With a bit of time to myself (yesterday) but no Bible at hand, I began praying with lines I'd memorized from John's Gospel.  When I came to John 1:5, where it speaks of the Light shining on in darkness, a darkness that has not overcome it, I felt a touch of peace.  No matter what darkness may seem to be around - in the world, the media, my nation or my life - the Light of Christ is shining in the very midst of it.  I was struck by the words "in darkness."  Darkness may indeed be lurking, but His Light is there.

It was a simple exchange, a conversation between my Lord and me... but lectio does not have to be complicated.  Day to day interactions between loved ones are generally not complicated either; sometimes it's wonderful to just bask in each other's presence.

"Today I sat quiet and just opened up to some scripture," wrote one of you, "staying with words from a commentary on the scripture that I was reading.... to 'bask in His Love.'  I reflected on these words......so I  basked in His Love.....like a cat basking in the Sun of a Winter Day!" - Anita 

"I found myself with a few quiet moments this afternoon," wrote our friend Rose, "so I decided to try a little lectio.  I found a nice sunny spot on the front porch where I could soak up the sunshine.  I closed my eyes, placing myself in the presence of God, feeling His presence in the warmth of the sun.  I picked up my missal and read the readings for today's Mass.  Nothing in the Epistle struck me; but, oh the Responsorial and the Gospel.  The  Responsorial was the Psalm about 'Lord, you know me.  You know when I sit and when I stand.  You knit me in my mother's womb.'  That was followed by the Gospel story of Mary and Martha.  WOW!  Did all of this ever speak to me right now, right where I stand spiritually.  I felt like God was saying, 'I know all about you.  I know how busy you are. I know all that you do. I know it is good to cook and clean and do all that you do but can't you give me a

little Mary time?'  So, I gave God a little Mary time.  And it was wonderful.  I ended my prayer time by taking a nice long walk back to the woods, praying a rosary along the way, singing hymns on my way back.  I arrived back home totally refreshed and ready for two little granddaughters to come play with me for a couple of hours.  What a blessed afternoon." - Rose 

"With these beautiful experiences in mind, I will quote something written on this blog awhile ago, when I spoke of "the dazzling simplicity of Lectio... 

"It does not have to be complicated.  It is God meeting man, God speaking to man. It is the written word of God becoming a fresh, vital, personal, breathed-forth-for-me-at-this-moment word of God.  It is loving, intimate, real.  It is when inspired words of God ring from the page or out of the mouth of a reader and are spoken to ME, here and now. It is my response to the Voice of God as I thank, talk with, love, adore."

May He continue granting us graces to thank, talk with, love, adore.

This is a repost from our archives. It is linked to Reconciled to You and Theology is a Verb for 'It's Worth Revisiting Wednesday.'

© 2012 Nancy Shuman.
thecloisteredheart.org     

Revisiting Keyholes

"When it’s God Who is speaking.. the proper way to behave is to imitate someone who has an irresistible curiosity and who listens at keyholes.  You must listen to everything God says at the keyhole of your heart."  (St. John Vianney)

Lectio Divina is so central to monastic life that I’ve often hesitated to write about it, for I am terribly aware of my inadequacies to explain.  But lectio itself is not about explanation.  It’s not about study, not about intellectual speculation.  Lectio is about listening and noticing and hearing and responding.  Lectio is about love.

Lectio Divina is reading of Sacred Scripture, but with a specific purpose.  That purpose is not to gain information, but to interact personally with God. To illustrate how this has operated in my own life, I’d like to share about a time when I prayed with Psalm 63….

Opening with a prayer that God would lead me, I began to read.  I spoke the first words directly to Our Lord:  “God, you are my God whom I seek.”  My practice is to read, slowly and prayerfully, until something particular grabs me.

Soon I was echoing words of the psalm, asking that my lips would glorify Him.  The next verse (5) had me telling God I would bless Him as long as I live.  I prayed for the grace to do just that:  for the grace to praise Him throughout that day and throughout my life…

That’s when I felt He “spoke” something to me.  This was not in words... it was simply a gentle sense of awareness that to bless Him as long as I live means that ... wow!!! ... I can bless Him forever!  Jesus has come and opened to me the doors of eternal life, so I can praise Him forever!

I told God this was the best thing I could imagine about eternal life.

I went on, awhile later, into prayer of intercession for several people who came to mind, asking that they be given grace to seek God and to bless Him forever.

The practice of praying with Scripture is central to monastic life. It is central to allowing God to lead His people to the graces of contemplative prayer.  It's not just for those in monasteries; it is also for you and for me.

I lean in closely to listen.... 

"Every day will I bless You, and I will praise Your Name forever and ever.  Great is the Lord and highly to be praised; His greatness is unsearchable.  Generation after generation praises Your works and proclaims Your might.”  (Psalm 146:2-4)

Text not in quotes © 2012 N Shuman thecloisteredheart.org

This is a slightly edited repost from our archives. It is linked to Reconciled to You  and Theology is a Verb for 'It's Worth Revisiting Wednesday.'
   

Again I Begin. Again.

While praying recently for a fresh wind of prayer, I ran across the following.  I've edited it slightly, for I first scribbled this in a journal over twenty years ago. Over twenty years!  Before iPads, Kindles, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, smart phones, texting, mobile apps.  Back then, people went to dinners disconnected, engaging in conversation with no concerns about a purse ringing just as salads arrived.  Yet even then, I was aware of how hard it was to tune in to the gentle presence of God.  

'We can hardly hear anything in this world of ceaseless distraction.  Our ancestors, even our recent ones, would be simply overwhelmed by the barrage of noises that surround us in this busy world, in this busy western world.  We are bombarded by entertainment, images, music, sounds, distractions we carry with us wherever we go. 

Perhaps we find our own thoughts too disturbing, so we drown them out with ceaseless chatter.  Maybe inactivity reminds us too clearly that we were created to fill our time with God, so we flee from the reminders by cramming our days full of mindless clutter. I know this because I am so this way, busily fluttering amid distractions that keep me blissfully unaware.

If only we could see it!  If only we could see the drama in which we're engaged!  If only we could peer, eyes unveiled, into the truth for just a minute.  I can't believe that such acute awareness would not utterly change our lives...'

Over twenty years later, I am still struggling to quiet down and 'listen.'  Funny.  I thought I'd be settled into a real routine by now.  Not so.

Perhaps because routine has never been easy for me?  Possibly.  Maybe because distractions are becoming daily more present and ever more convenient for me and for all of us?  Surely.

And, if I'm honest, probably because some part of me would rather look at glitter than into scripture.  It's a tough thing to consider, an even tougher thing to admit.  But it is at least partially true.  After all, a bit of online glitz will not remind me that I need to take time to pray for situations on the world stage.  Or perhaps that I can even, if I give Him time and space, encounter the loving presence of God.

Encountering the Presence of God.  Imagine!  I can do this very thing in prayer, even in the silence of my heart.  I know how this works; I've done it for years:  I can sit down and pray, giving God time and space and attention.  I can take another look at Lectio Divina.

Why on earth am I waiting?  Am I afraid of something? Perhaps I'm more dependent than I realize on entertainment, on noise and commotion and bling. Could it be?

Maybe if I ask Him, and maybe if I sit long enough to hear His still, small Voice, Our Lord will answer this very question.

I pick up my Bible. I open it.

Again I begin.

This is a respost from our archives. It is linked to Reconciled to You and Theology is a Verb for 'It's Worth Revisiting Wednesday.'

© Nancy Shuman.
thecloisteredheart.org       

Painting: Henri Lebasque, in US public domain due to age

What I Did Not Miss

I was eager for prayer time yesterday. Newly aware of what I might be missing when I don't take such time, I'd enthusiastically scheduled a block of minutes for total, uninterrupted concentration on God. I normally try to do this on a daily basis, but the timing of that can be haphazard, and thus can get pushed later and later on any given day. Yesterday, however, I was ready and waiting. I had even dug through my bookshelves for an unused journal (I have several waiting in the wings) in order to make notes of What I Did Not Miss.

I sat with a list of suggestions on how to pray with Scripture (shared in our last post, from the writings of 'A Religious'), and opened my Bible to a reading from the Gospel of Luke. I read a few lines slowly, and waited. I read the lines again, and waited. I asked Jesus what He wanted to reveal to me, and I waited. 'Keep on doing this until the words begin to live,' the anonymous Religious had suggested. So I did.

The words I read were good words, holy words, straight-from-the-written-Word-of-God-words, and I received them with gratitude. I thanked God for the words, and for His written word, and for gifts I was aware of and gifts I didn't know I was receiving. But did the words live? From my perspective, that did not seem to be the case.

However, from the perspective of the way things really ARE, the words were alive indeed - and I knew that. 'For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any two-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.' (Matthew 4:12)

Did I feel any different because of the words I had read, or because of the prayers I prayed as a result of reading them? No, I cannot say that I did. Is the word of God living and active even when I do not feel it?  Yes, absolutely.

Perhaps it can be compared to an unborn baby. Such a one lives within its mother for months before its movements can be felt. Mommy goes through her days unaware of the leaps, stretches, yawns, kicks and punches of the active person living inside her. Baby's life does not depend upon Mommy's constant awareness of it. Baby is alive, and that is simply an objective fact.

God's word is alive, and that is a objective fact. Not everyone accepts it as fact, but that doesn't make it any less true. God has said it. 'The Church has always venerated the Scriptures as she venerates the Lord's Body.... In the sacred books, the Father who is in heaven comes lovingly to meet His children, and talks with them.' (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 103-104)

I am happy to report that in my concentrated prayer time today, I felt words of Scripture stirring and leaping in my heart and mind. I had some sense of the Father coming to meet me, His child. But it's interesting. That is not the experience I've felt drawn to report on here.

I would rather share my intense gratitude for the gifts of yesterday's prayer. The gift of knowing, maybe in a deeper way, that God's word IS living and active. The gift of knowing that God has gifts for me, whether or not I see or hear or feel them. The gift of acceptance of whatever God wants to give me, or ask of me, or do with me, forever.

How glad I am that I took that block of time to be with God.

There were gifts, solid gifts. I would hate to have missed them.

© Nancy Shuman
thecloisteredheart.org      

Painting: Robert Lewis Reid

What Am I Missing?

Taking a block of time for prayer each day can be a life-changer. Yet keeping the commitment to do so is a struggle for me. I sometimes put it off until I'm ready to fall into bed, and then find myself omitting it entirely.

I wonder what I might have missed on such days. What inspiration, guidance and insights did God have waiting for me? Were there special gifts? Was there a precious jewel that I left, ignored and unwrapped, while I ooohed and aaahed over the world's offerings of glitter and plastic?

We have talked before, here, about prayer with Scripture. We've also used numerous quotes by the writer known as 'A Religious.'  Today we will combine the two, as we sit at the feet at this anonymous Religious and listen.....

'1.  Take your New Testament..... Forget everything around you and be, for the time, alone with Him whose life is described here by the Spirit of Love.  He Himself addresses you from these pages with words of profound wisdom and divine compassion; words that have illuminated the centuries of human history with heavenly truth, and melted millions of human hearts to tears of compunction and love, nay more, words that have bound souls to Him with the strongest bonds that could be forged on earth, and thus bound, enabled them to suffer torments for His love....

'2.  Read some words or a few lines very slowly, read them again, and then wait for a moment and ask Jesus what He wants here to reveal to you about His love.  Read them once more, and talk them over quietly with yourself and with Jesus... Keep on doing this until the words begin to live. Be like the lover of music who plays a short, beautiful melody, and repeats it, again and again, until his soul is transformed by the harmony.  

'3.  Meditation from the New Testament will make us know Our Lord as scarcely anything else can do, for the original Author is God Himself, and it contains the history of the Word make flesh, Jesus Christ... The innermost reason for the fruitfulness of God's Word is that Christ is ever living; He is ever the God Who saves and quickens... Love, become great and burning by contact with God, takes possession of the powers of the soul, renders it strong and generous to do perfectly all the Father's will, to give itself up wholly to the divine good pleasure.  What better or more fruitful prayer than this?  What treasures await the searchers of the Gospels!  Oh, if only we knew the gift of God!" (from Fervorinos From Galilee's Hills, compiled by a Religious, Pelligrini, Australia, 1936, pp. 26-29)

If only we knew, indeed. I can imagine a giant pile of gifts just stacked up, waiting, gifts of joy and strength and wisdom that I've shoved into a corner; gifts in packages gathering dust.

Even now, a new one for today is being wrapped and labeled and offered. Will I toss it aside, ignore it, say I have a lot to do but thank You anyway?  Or will I open it?

I choose.   

This is a repost from our archives. It is linked to Reconciled to You and Theology is a Verb for 'It's Worth Revisiting Wednesday.' 

© Nancy Shuman
thecloisteredheart.org      

Painting: Charles West Cope
 

Right Before My Eyes

Studying Art history in college, I wondered why we spent a good chunk of the semester concentrating on Catholic church architecture. This was especially puzzling because I was in a State University, and the teacher was outspoken about her own atheism.

In time, I understood. Churches are built to "speak." They are meant (or they were once upon a time) to proclaim the Word of God to all who enter their spaces. They are intended to offer, along with the printed or spoken words uttered within them, a special language of their own. Even the youngest and least educated among us should be able to in some way "get" this language, for in large part it is visual. It communicates to us the Truth that we have entered a sacred space, where we're invited to participate in the life of the world to come. Stained glass windows block distractions from the world outside. Statues help us realize the fact that we live, day to day, surrounded by saints and angels.  Paintings remind us of truth we cannot perceive with eyes of flesh.

Heaven knows, we need reminders. In this distracting, hurried, confusing world, we need reminders.

I think of these reminders as "visual lectio."

Not being in a geographical situation where I "see" this visual lectio often anymore, I miss it.  But I like knowing that someday, somewhere, I might just walk into a church building and look up at a magnificent window and - lo and behold! - find a subject for meditation.  Right before my very eyes.

What Gifts Did I Miss Today?

'At some point during the day, I try to set aside a block of time to spend with God.  I spend time in prayer with Scripture....'

As I continue to concentrate on times in my 'inner choir stall,' I realize that the 'block of time' prayer can be a life-changer.  Yet this is the part of prayer that's most difficult for me.  I sometimes put it off until I'm ready to fall into bed, and then find myself omitting it entirely.

Sometimes I wonder what I might have missed on such days.  What inspiration, guidance and insights did God have waiting for me?  Were there special gifts?  Was there a precious jewel I left, ignored and unwrapped, while I ooohed and aaahed over the world's offerings of glitter and plastic?

We have talked before, here, about prayer with Scripture.  We've also used numerous quotes by the writer known as "A Religious."  Today we will combine the two, as we sit at the feet at this anonymous Religious and listen.....

"1.  Take your New Testament..... Forget everything around you and be, for the time, alone with Him whose life is described here by the Spirit of Love.  He Himself addresses you from these pages with words of profound wisdom and divine compassion; words that have illuminated the centuries of human history with heavenly truth, and melted millions of human hearts to tears of compunction and love, nay more, words that have bound souls to Him with the strongest bonds that could be forged on earth, and thus bound, enabled them to suffer torments for His love....

"2.  Read some words or a few lines very slowly, read them again, and then wait for a moment and ask Jesus what He wants here to reveal to you about His love.  Read them once more, and talk them over quietly with yourself and with Jesus... Keep on doing this until the words begin to live. Be like the lover of music who plays a short, beautiful melody, and repeats it, again and again, until his soul is transformed by the harmony.  

"3.  Meditation from the New Testament will make us know Our Lord as scarcely anything else can do, for the original Author is God Himself, and it contains the history of the Word make flesh, Jesus Christ... The innermost reason for the fruitfulness of God's Word is that Christ is ever living; He is ever the God Who saves and quickens... Love, become great and burning by contact with God, takes possession of the powers of the soul, renders it strong and generous to do perfectly all the Father's will, to give itself up wholly to the divine good pleasure.  What better or more fruitful prayer than this?  What treasures await the searchers of the Gospels!  Oh, if only we knew the gift of God!" (from Fervorinos From Galilee's Hills, compiled by a Religious, Pelligrini, Australia, 1936, pp. 26-29)

If only we knew, indeed.  I can imagine a giant pile of gifts just stacked up, waiting, gifts of joy and strength and wisdom that I've shoved into a corner; gifts in packages gathering dust.  

Even now, a new one for today is being wrapped and labeled and offered.  Will I toss it aside, ignore it, say I have a lot to do but thank You anyway?  Or will I open it?

I choose.   

Painting:  John William Waterhouse, Saint Cecilia, 1895, detail 

This post is linked to Catholic Bloggers Network Linkup 

An Act of God

As I've been praying, and writing about, and trying to live lectio divina over these last weeks, there is one part I'd almost forgotten.

Lectio is not a one sided activity.  I read, I talk to God, I commit to Him.  And then....

Something happens.

This is not always a "felt" something.  It may not be perceived by me at all.  But when I am speaking with Jesus and reading His Word and committing myself to live for Him, an amazing thing is going on.  Jesus is actually here.  Not just in my imagination, not by an act of wishful thinking, but He is genuinely here.

I can forget this breathtaking reality when my prayer has been dry or weighed down with distractions.  But Jesus is actually here, regardless of how I feel.  AND...

He is doing something.  Sometimes He brushes my spirit with His presence, sometimes He breathes a word of Scripture into my life, sometimes He lets me see a path I might be called to take.  But always He is here, and always He is acting.

In my lectio yesterday, I thought about doorways.  When I pray with Scripture, I must make a first step, pick up my Bible, and thus open the "door." As I read and pray, I open my heart to Christ more widely.  But it can be hard to keep a door open, especially if it's only slightly ajar.  Its natural tendency may be to swing closed.  I must make an effort to hold it open.  I compare this to the way my mind drifts as I try to hold it open to Christ in prayer.  Sometimes I have to find "props" to help me refocus and keep the door from slamming shut.

But there's one thing I've noticed about doors.  When they are partially open, they often close under their own weight.  Yet when they are opened beyond a certain point, most of them stay open on their own. 

Yesterday I began to feel God's help in keeping the "door" open.  It's almost as if I'd been holding it until my arm had grown tired, and then, quite unexpectedly, Someone took the weight of it from me.

Then, it's as if He walked in.  Somehow, it was as if He stepped more deeply into my life, into my awareness, into my prayer, and quietly led more of the "conversation."  And as impossible as this is to describe, I know I should not use the phrase "as if."  There's no "as if" about it.  Our Lord let me know, in some mysterious way, what I had believed by faith all along..... 

that He is here.  

"Experiences of God are far, far more than anything we can fabricate for ourselves.... when God gives someone the unspeakable experience of Himself in contemplative immersion, He leaves no stone unturned."  (Father Thomas Dubay SM, Fire Within, Ignatius, 1989,  p. 47)

To continue "A Day of Lectio," click this line

The Way into His Harbor

"Just as at sea, those who are carried away from the direction of the harbor bring themselves back on course by a clear sign; so Scripture guides those adrift on the sea of life back into the harbor of the divine will."  (St. Gregory of Nyssa)

We now know, hopefully, what Lectio Divina is, "how to do it," and what it can mean in our everyday lives.

Now I propose the idea of going through every one of our days, here in the real world where we live, with scripture applied to everything we do.  Servings of scripture for breakfast, dinner, and supper!   Scripture weaving through our work and influencing our recreation!  Scripture comforting our fears and influencing our decisions and lulling us to sleep.....

Such a day would surely be one lived "through the grille."

I, for one, would love to learn to live my days in just this way.  Conversing with God in the silence of my heart, as He brings specific words and verses to my mind.  "In the sacred books," wrote Pope Leo XIII, "the Father who is in heaven comes lovingly to meet His children and talks with them."

"I find myself now practicing Lectio with every Word of Scripture that I read," said our friend Anita recently. "When I prayed 'morning prayer' this morning, I read it so differently than usual - hanging on every word, every image that the divine writer conveyed - I realized I was 'squeezing out the juice.'  Oh my goodness! ...this is GRACE.  I find myself now longing to read scripture, waiting to 'Hear' what He wants me to know...."

I pray that we will each have the gift of longing to read scripture, leaning in close to hear what He wants us to know....

To continue "A Day of Lectio," click this line  

Lectio To Go

If I am to live "immersed in lectio" (i.e. in scripture), I must learn to take it with me wherever I go.  This is obviously a process, an "art" that cannot be mastered overnight.   

Years ago, I learned a way of carrying at least a touch of lectio with me... a way to cart chunks of the Bible around as I work and drive and (especially) face into the storms of life.  In recent weeks, I've been re-learning the value of this "portable lectio."  It does not replace time apart with God, for I need time with my Bible open and with my mind as concentrated as possible.  But I am greedy enough to want scripture with me, wherever I go.  I want God's word to shape me.  To mold my attitudes, soothe my worries and calm my fears.  I want scripture to form my thinking.  I want to carry it with me as much as possible.  So, in addition to taking with me parts of scripture that jumped out at me "this morning," I also memorize.  

Someone asked me, years ago, why anyone would bother memorizing verses of scripture when Bibles were so readily available?  Because, I answered, there may come a time when I might not have ready access to one.  I wasn't necessarily referring to anything apocalyptic, but to any times when I might want to "read" the Bible and wouldn't have one right in my hand.  Like once when I spent an hour in an MRI "tube" with nothing to think about but the blangs and clangs swirling around my head.  I was thankful, then, to have memorized a few chapters of scripture.  I practiced lectio right there, holding a mental, silent conversation with God as I lay in my metal enclosure....

But however does one memorize chunks of scripture?  I have done it the way one memorizes anything:  by repetition, repetition, repetition.  I've done it in small manageable chunks of a sentence or less a day, sentence added to sentences until look!... here's a paragraph...

I began with the first chapter of the Gospel of John, because it so greatly appealed to me.  I figured that if I were ever stranded on a desert island or stuck in a massive storm, this was what I'd want lodged in my head.  I managed to memorize the first 14 verses straight through (don't be too impressed:  it took me all of one summer and into the fall).  I would read my "new sentence"  in the morning, go back to it mentally through the day, look it back up if I got stuck, and recite it mentally as my bedtime lullaby.  I'd go to sleep reciting all of what-I'd-memorized-so-far in my head (silently - without my husband even knowing I was doing this!).  A soothing way to go to sleep...

I haven't memorized a great deal of scripture, but do have enough of a storehouse to keep me going in some of the traffic jams and storms and MRIs of life.

And if I'm ever stuck on a desert island, at least I'll have brought my Lectio-to-Go.

To continue "A Day of Lectio," click this line  

© 2012 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org         

Painting: Charles Sillem Lidderdale, The Fern Gatherer, 1877

Lectio, Lived

As I go through my day nourished by the "air of scripture," I find that I haven't made practical resolutions (as quoted from Tim Gray in yesterday's post) as much as I've simply noticed lectio threading through the circumstances of my day.

I cooperate with the threading, however.  I respond.  In my lectio of a few days ago, the following leapt right off the page:  "The light shines on in darkness, a darkness that did not overcome it"  (John 1:5).  This word breathed life into me; it was vibrant and active and real.  My part was to accept and embrace it, and to let it change whatever in me needed changing.  In this case, the change has been in attitude and in time given to prayer.  There is a Light, and His Name is Jesus, and He is stronger than the dark.  I had realized this truth, of course, but in the moment when the words "leapt off the page" at me, I had a sudden, sharp sense of absolutely knowing.  An assurance that His Light is seeking out and chasing away darkness in me, and darkness in the world - even though I may not see how that is happening.  I also knew I was called to pray for the Light of Christ to triumph over specific circumstances in the world around.  So - the fruit of that lectio has been deeper confidence and increasing prayer.

As we become more immersed in Scripture, this is what happens.  We are touched, personally, by the word of God... and we change.

Today one of you shared the following:  "I enjoyed your post on the 20th... I prayed with the scripture verse you had there and never got past the first one (Habakkuk 3:17-19). I was struck by this phrase - 'yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.'  Specifically - 'yet I will ...' In other words, no matter what goes on in my life, I will be joyful and rejoice.  Yet I will... I prayed with that all weekend!  And I needed it today.  I had such a terrible day at work.  I cannot say I rejoiced until I came home and remembered the verse.  THEN I thanked God.  AND rejoiced."

Two examples of words that popped out of the readings and "stuck..." examples of seeing and responding to the world through the will of God.  Do things look dark?   I am assured that the Light shines on in darkness.   Did I have a bad day at work?  Yet I will thank God.  I will rejoice.

It is Lectio, Lived.  

© 2012 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org      

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The Very Breath of Home

As we may recall from Tim Gray's summary of the steps of "Guigo's Ladder," Dr. Gray added a fifth step.  This was "Operatio, In which we make operative some practical resolution to bring the wine of God's word to fruitfulness in our life and the world."  (Tim Gray Ph.D, Praying Scripture for a Change, Ascension Press, 2009, p.36) 

Now that we've considered and begun to practice lectio divina, I'd like to take a look at the step of operatio.  It's a tough world, and we know it.  There is much in this world that's in conflict with the will of God, and all we need to do is compare what Scripture tells us with what the world "says" to begin to see this.

In order to face such conflicts day after day, we need to become saturated in God's Word - perhaps as an astronaut is saturated in oxygen.  Like an earthly visitor to the moon, we must carry the atmosphere of our Homeland with us.  We need to have the voice of God breathed constantly upon us, for there are other voices continually exhorting us to live anywhere at all except in the holiness of God's will.    

"Sacred Scripture is the speech of God, and it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit."  (Cathecism of the Catholic Church #81)  

As we go about our day to day lives, we ask the Holy Spirit to breathe His Word upon us.  For, living enclosed within the graces of Scripture, we carry with us the very breath of Home.

© 2012 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org      

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Going for This

Since we began this "lectio day," I have been bombarded by distractions.  Many seem to come from inside myself.  I sit with scripture, and often in a very short time all sorts of stray thoughts wander in, pull up a chair, and make themselves at home.  Often these are thoughts of what I COULD be doing instead of "this."

And what, I ask myself, is "this."  

"This" is spending person to Person time with God Himself.  It is lingering heart to Heart with the One Who waits to shower mercy upon me.  It is accepting a peace that passes understanding, and a love that no one else can give.  What could be so enchanting that it takes my attention when I'm in the middle of "this?"  I am sorry to admit that it can be something as inane as a crossword puzzle, wanting to check out the weather report, or wondering if the mail's come yet....

"We somehow assume that contemplation should sail smoothly along in undistracted, uninterrupted delight in God," writes Father Dubay in the book we looked at yesterday. "It will be such in the final enthrallment of beatific vision, but here on earth we should expect a great deal of ebb and flow:  empty feelings mingled with occasional periods of delight." (p. 62)

"One is being led into a perceived contact with God indwelling....  at first it comes bit by bit and will be punctured with distractions (which obviously come from us), but as one grows, this love gets progressively stronger and deeper."  (p. 61) 

"The beginnings of infused prayer ... are so gentle and unobtrusive at the outset that unless one is well instructed, they may go unnoticed."  (p. 64)

When I first read Fire Within (shortly after its publication), I decided right then that I wanted to "go for it."  I wanted to "go for" increasing depth of prayer.  I wanted to go for giving my will and my life over to God, trusting Him to make me into the holy person He wanted me to be... one who would choose to love Him by decision no matter what.  I wanted to go for a life immersed in prayer. 

"Infused contemplation is by no means a dry or sterile intellectualism," wrote Father Dubay, "a platonic gazing upon abstract essences.  Nor is it an oriental, impersonal awareness.  Rather, it is (according to St. John of the Cross) 'a loving awareness of God."  (p. 63)

"One of the most extravagant errors of recent decades among religious men and women is the idea that contemplation is a monastic enterprise, good in itself but the exclusive domain of the cloister...." (p. 65)

"If we keep Yahweh always before our eyes, nothing can shake us."  (p. 66)

"Deepening communion with the indwelling Trinity brings with it a steadily progressive growth in holiness:  humility, love, patience, purity, fortitude and all the virtues."  (p. 71)  

I re-read these words today and realize I cannot stop short.  No matter where I am on the journey at any given time, I can't let a distraction here and a bout of dryness there win the battle.  I want a life immersed in prayer.

I want to go for it.

© 2012 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org      

(above quotes from Fire Within by Thomas Dubay S.M., Ignatius Press, 1989, pages 58-60.  Click this line to read more about this title)

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A Taste of Contemplation

One of the things that has struck me from our "lectio so far" is the image of layered lasagna. That, in turn, has drawn me to think about something totally unexpected:  a dish I used to make when the children were small.  It is something my mother served when I was young.  It's called escalloped cabbage. 

In the bottom of a baking dish, I put a layer of crumbled crackers.  On top of that, a layer of cooked cabbage.  I  redo that a few times, just as one does when layering lasagna.   On top is a final layer of crackers, coated with butter - but it doesn't end there.  To make this casserole soft and tasty, I must drench it in milk, digging a fork into the layers in a few spots so the milk can penetrate and soak down through.  Then it is baked.

For lectio to BE lectio, I must begin with a solid base of scripture.  Then comes the layer of prayer.  It can become a back and forth conversation, as we have seen.

We can read, we can pray, we can meditate on God's Word.  But when it comes to contemplation... well, that must be given.  It must be "infused."  Like the milk that softens escalloped cabbage and brings it all together so the dish can be served, contemplation is (in effect) "poured in."  It is something poured into us by God.

Yet pouring milk into an empty dish leaves us with just...  milk.   In order to have a firm, delicious casserole, the layering needs to first be put into place.

"Even though contemplation is utterly divinely given and humanly received, God gives only to the extent that we efficaciously desire, that is, not merely wish something to happen but take concrete means to fit ourselves to receive it."  In his wonderful book Fire Within, Father Thomas Dubay uses the Gospels plus writings from saints Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross to teach about prayer.  He says that for St. Teresa, "contemplation is an experienced, mutual presence, an intimate sharing between friends, a being alone with the God Who loves us.  Hence, this prayer is a mutual presence of two in love, and in this case the Beloved dwells within." 

"This experience of the divine presence involves nothing extraordinary.  It is not a vision, nothing is seen or heard... a deep experience of God can overflow into our emotions, but in its essence it is literally non-sensed.  The new knowing and loving of God are a spiritual reality, not a tangible one.   Repeatedly, Teresa insists that contemplative prayer is divinely produced.  She calls this prayer even in its delicate beginnings 'supernatural,' meaning by this term what we now intend with the word infused.  That is, poured in by God..."

...like milk....?

"In all types of infused prayer there are degrees of intensity, more and less, ebb and flow.  There are dry, dark yearnings; slow and gentle enkindlings of love; ecstatic absorptions and delights; experiences of refreshment, peace, pain, light and insights.  Being in love with God is never boring."

© 2012 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org      

(above quotes from Fire Within by Thomas Dubay S.M., Ignatius Press, 1989, pages 58-60.  Click this line to read more about this title)

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Gathering Fruits of Lectio

It is hard to put our Lectio into words.  God speaks to us in Scripture, we speak to Him in prayer, and these back and forth encounters weave into and through our everyday lives.

"I must admit," wrote one of you this morning "that when I first heard about Lectio Divina, I was intimidated thinking that it was a practice that only a few could master along with the great saints.  But as I am learning more and more everyday, it can be very simple and maybe even something that I have been doing all along and was unaware.  Maybe it can be as easy as sitting in a favorite chair in peace and silence and feeling the love of God envelop me.. feeling His greatness and my smallness and dependence.  I think this is something that we can all master..."

"We are not always going to have an experience," said someone else; " i.e. the scriptures will not always speak to us at that specific moment... it may even be quite dry. We may find that nothing struck us but a few days later, that particular verse will come to mind. There are times when I read a verse and it does strike me, but I don't have any particular words to say so I will sit quietly in God's Presence.  It will be different for each unique soul."

Others had the following things to say:

"Scripture not just contained in prayer time, but weaving throughout the circumstances of our whole day..."

"Monastic life seems to be simply life itself, lived more intentionally, lived symbolically... it confirms that what has been in my own heart is something real, something that can harmonize with my vocation to married life and motherhood."

"For various reasons (some known to me, some unknown), opening the Sacred Scriptures is a challenge for me...  I do love the Bible and there was a time in my life when my relationship with the written word of God was strong and healthy. This gives me hope for what is to come though I also know that things will necessarily be different now than they were in the past. A renewal of active love for Sacred Scripture seems to be the resolution God is leading me to for the Year of Faith."

"He puts in front of us what we need...whether those words speak to our hearts at the time, later in the day or maybe even a few days later."

"I am happy to learn that I have maybe been practicing lectio on some level, as I have begun my morning with scripture and prayer for many years. In a very loosey-goosey unguided kind of way. But I like the suggestion to re-read scripture several times, pray and reread, and will begin tomorrow."

"My prayer life has been unfolding ten-fold. It's been a quiet, gentle process and feels very natural. I have begun following the Divine Office online with morning prayers and night prayers. I love to listen along to the podcast (especially the night prayers.) It gives me a sense of community, joining the universal church in prayer, while still having that private prayer time I crave."

"I often will find myself drawn to one word or phrase that then becomes my prayer for one day or more. As long as I feel moved to pray it, I do that.  Often that prayer and the need for that prayer is made known, sometimes not. But it is kind of a way of ‘praying without ceasing.’"

"The prayer weaves in and out of my days... "

"Your suggestion of writing down or journaling what we hear in Scripture on a given day is an excellent one.  Our techy gadgets can keep us grounded in Scripture too.  Yesterday as I was praying one of the Offices for the day, a verse from one of the Psalms struck me.  I put it into the Memo feature on my phone and returned to it throughout the day.  It helped to keep that grille work in place!"

"Rosalind Moss once referred to Scripture as God's love letter to us."

"Today's gospel was a huge smack in the head, a good one. It made me realize that even though I stop giving chase to Him (neglecting my prayer life), He never stops His."

© 2012 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org      

There is much more ahead on this topic, so I hope we can keep up prayer that God's will shall be done in it all....


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