Lectio Divina, the Practice of Sacred Reading

It’s funny how things enter your life. Or at least, how they enter mine. All of a sudden patterns start to develop and in short order, they point to something that needs to be part of my life. Lectio Divina came to me that way. It sort of gently nudged its way in, and seemed to say, “You need to pay attention to me now. I have something to teach you.”

Because Lectio Divina was new to me and might be to you, let me take a moment to define and explain the practice. Although the practice of sacred reading is not specific to Christianity – most religions that have sacred texts practice sacred reading – Lectio Divina, as it is named, is specifically a Christian practice.

It is the art of slow reading (usually scripture); taking time to read and take in all the possible depths and meanings of the text. Of sitting with the words and imagery and letting it gradually connect to your subconscious or higher self. We are changed through this process – we can’t help but be affected by the text we are contemplating.

And (School House Rock was right) three apparently really is the magic number. If something is synchronously moving into my life, I’ll usually have at least 3 interactions with it.

My first introduction to Lectio Divina was through a podcast called Harry Potter and the Sacred Text. The podcast hosts explain the various sacred reading traditions they observe on a page of their site, Lectio Divina being the first on a list of several.

My second encounter was technically my first, as the book I found it in (which made its way into my hands without my really understanding why I wanted it at the time) I had purchased a few months earlier, but I didn’t open until after I had found HP & the Sacred Texts and then discovered the connection. The book was Thomas Merton, A Book of Hours, and the editor, Kathleen Deignan speaks specifically to the practice of Lectio Divina as a way of interacting with the text in this lovely book.

The third time in a short stretch that Lectio Divina came up was in a conversation with my minister. We were batting about ideas for our upcoming multi-generational service. The theme that month was World Wisdom, and Rev. Alice brought up Lectio Divina as a possible practice to share with the congregation. It was quite clear to me at that point that I needed to lead that program. It was time for me to dig into this practice.

Below I have listed the four steps that are particular to the practice of Lectio Divina. Because I am not Christian, nor were my participants, I used Lectio Divina as an example of the art of sacred reading, and I shared the specifics of the Lectio Divina practice to lift up an example of World Wisdom that wasn’t familiar to most of our congregants.

The guiding questions in quotations at the end of each step come from The Basic Steps of Lectio Divina, an article by Jared Dees, from TheReligionTeacher.com

If the art of sacred reading appeals to you, I offer the beautiful practice of Lectio Divina as one method of exploring this concept. I have tried to use language that would feel approachable to a UU or multi-denominational audience, which does stray from the Christian practice. To clarify, in places where I say “Deity/Higher Self/Universe”, this would refer specifically to God instead.

The Four Steps of Lectio Divina

Lectio (read) – Reading text, sacred or secular, slowly and thoughtfully, taking time to reflect on its meanings and imagery. “What does this text say that everyone should understand?”

Meditatio (meditate) – Sitting with and processing the text; ruminating on the words or imagery through repetition. This allows us a mindful space in which to contemplate the text.  “What does this text say to me today, and in my life?” [For UUs you could also look for truisms relevant to Unitarian Universalism and/or try to hear the text from the perspective of the faith it came from]

Oratio (pray) – Prayer is the intentional communication with deity, the higher self or an object of worship – a reaching out to something beyond our conscious mind. Prayer as part of Lectio Divina is specifically the act of expressing thanks, praise or supplication to the divine/higher self/universe for what you’ve received through ruminating on the text. “What can I say to [my higher self, the divine, the universe] in response to the text?”

Contemplatio (contemplate) – Contemplation in this sense is more akin to eastern meditation techniques than the Lectio Divina meditation stage is. Here we make space to sit ‘in wordless silence’ to allow what we’ve taken in to change or move us. “What conversation of the mind, heart and life is this text asking of me?” (In standard Christian practices this step is the “contemplation of the word of God”)

It is recommended (especially when starting the practice) that the text be brief – no more than five or so sentences. Below I have shared a number of sacred and secular quotes from around the world that you can use to try the practice of Lectio Divina, or sacred reading.

Enjoy, and Blessed Be.

Sacred and secular texts for contemplation with Lectio Divina

Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children. 
– Crazy Horse

You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle.  That is because the power of the world always works in circles, and everything tries to be round.  The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars.  The wind, in its greatest power, whirls.  Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.  Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing and always come back again to where they were.  The life of a man is a circle, from childhood to childhood.  And so it is in everything where the sacred power moves.
— Hehaka Sapa (Black Elk) – Oglala Lakota

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make our world.
– Buddha

Hatred does not cease through hatred at any time. Hatred ceases through love. This is an unalterable law.
– Buddha

The human body is the temple of God. One who kindles the light of awareness within gets true light.
 – Rig Veda

The sacred flame of your inner shrine is constantly bright. The experience of unity is the fulfillment of human endeavors. The mysteries of life are revealed.
– Rig Veda

The one who loves all intensely begins perceiving in all living beings a part of himself. He becomes a lover of all, a part and parcel of the Universal Joy. He flows with the stream of happiness, and is enriched by each soul.
– Yajur Veda

And thou who thinkest to seek for me, know thy seeking and yearning shall avail thee not, unless thou know this mystery: that if that which thou seekest thou findest not within thee, thou wilt never find it without thee. For behold, I have been with thee from the beginning, and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.
– Doreen Valiente, Charge of the Goddess

She changes everything she touches, and everything she touches changes.
 – Starhawk

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.
– Confucius

The man who thinks he can and the man who thinks he can’t are both right.
 – Confucius

Humanists recognize that it is only when people feel free to think for themselves, using reason as their guide, that they are best capable of developing values that succeed in satisfying human needs and serving human interests.
– Isaac Asimov

If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals. 
– Sirius Black (via JK Rowling)

It is our choices … that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
– Albus Dumbledore (via JK Rowling)

The fortune of this world is like a wheel with two buckets, the full becomes empty and the empty full.
—The Talmud

Where the sages bid us beware for the sake of outward appearances, they mean us to regard even our innermost chamber as a marketplace.
—The Talmud

 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
– Psalm 23:4

Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life. 
– John 4:13-14

If your brother sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent’, you must forgive.
– Luke 17:3-4

So verily, with the hardship, there is relief. So verily, with the hardship, there is relief.
 – Quran 94:5-6

The good deed and the bad deed are not the same. Return evil with good.
– Quran 41:34

Resources

• Thomas Merton, A Book of Hours; Kathleen Deignan, ed.
• Learn to Pray, A Practical Guide to Faith and Inspiration; Marcus Braybrooke
• The Basic Steps of Lectio Divina, article by Jared Dees, from TheReligionTeacher.com