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Lectio Divina – An Ancient Practice Revisited
Last week during a conference a small group of women met to pray for the meetings being held in tandem to our prayer meeting. At the beginning of the meeting I was asked to do “lectio divina” with the group. I explained the practice and proceeded to lead the group in a reading from II Corinthians 4:7-10, 16-18. I followed a standard “lectio divina” order. The group was quiet; the scripture penetrating. At one point I could hardly continue reading because of the impact the passage was having on me the reader. We finished and sat in silence, then one of the women broke the silence by simply saying –…
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Adjustments for Life
I recently purchased some new eye glasses. Within the first hour of wearing the glasses, I knew the hinge on one side was loose. Because of traveling, it took about 2 weeks before I could go back to my optometrist to get the glasses adjusted. When I walked in, the associate asked what he could do for me. I replied, “I can see great and I love these new glasses, but they need to be adjusted.” He quickly said, “I can see how they are slipping on your nose.” I was surprised he said that because I had gotten so used to dealing with glasses over the years that slipped…
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Duck Dynasty: Should Your Belief Cost You Your Job?
Is it really cause for suspension or termination if when you are directly asked "What in your mind is sinful?" you refer to the Bible and include homosexuality in your response? Gay activists (GLADD) say YES. But their power to shape the national dialogue on the rightness or wrongness of homosexual behavior has been broken this week, or at least dialed down, by an unlikely fellow with a long beard in camo, Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson. The way gays suffered and cared for their own during the AIDS epidemic of the 80’s infused great moral authority into their struggle for acceptance. But those lessons seem lost in the…
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The Art of Sacred Reading – Lectio Divina
Resurgent interest in the ancient art of sacred reading as a way to nurture our spiritual lives is compelling. Lectio Divina – a Latin phrase for divine reading, spiritual reading or sacred reading – has been used for over 1,500 years. Lectio Divina comprises four elements: lectio (we read the text), meditatio (we meditate the text), oratio (we pray the text), and contemplatio (we live the text). But naming the four elements must be accompanied by a practiced awareness that their relationship is not sequential. Reading (lectio) is a linear act, but spiritual (divina) reading is not ‑any of the elements may be at the fore at any one time.…
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