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The simple process of Bible reflection known as lectio divina is intended
specifically for spiritual nourishment. We often think of reading the Bible
as a process of study. But there is a way of reading the Bible devotionally
to satisfy spiritual thirst. Christians have long known a means of turning
to scripture that transcends any time and culture-specific references,
reaching into the reader's present experience to facilitate spiritual
growth.** Yet this older process has been set aside in the "rational"
centuries from the Reformation (sixteenth century) through the
Enlightenment (eighteenth century); that is, the time when a definitive
split between sacred and secular emerged through dramatic changes in
philosophy and the arts, politics and economics, trade and daily life. In
general, our post-Enlightenment twentieth century tends to emphasize a
historical and analytical approach toward any text. Systematic analysis of
the scripture has yielded many valuable insights about events at the time
of writing, the relationship between various editors, and the like. But
these details have tended to overwhelm a more devotional method of presence
to the scripture. While this approach has achieved many gains, it has
neglected an older tradition that viewed the Bible as an aid to the
spiritual life rather than chiefly a source of data or information!
It is now difficult for us to imagine what a devotional approach to the
Bible might mean, much less how to go about it. Yet the ancient Christian
art of Bible reading for spiritual growth has never been totally lost, and
today it is gradually reemerging in several radically different Christian
settings -- from monastic communities in the United States to recently
evangelized African Christians. Lectio divina offers a means of Bible
reading available to all for spiritual growth.
The ancient Christian tongue twister name is lectio divina (pronounced lex-ee-oh dih-vee-nuh).
This Latin phrase literally translates into English as "divine reading" and
refers primarily to the reading of sacred scriptures as practiced by the
early Christian fathers and mothers. In Latin as in English, the adjective
"divine" refers both to the material being read (the divine word) and the
method of reading (an inspired approach). The Latin also carries a
tradition of meaning that is vaster than the literal English translation
suggests. Therefore, we continue to use the Latin phrase and usually
shorten it simply to lectio.
Historically, both individuals and groups use lectio with much variation in
actual practice. It focuses on the good word of God as revealed in divine
scriptures, although it can be practiced on other readings of spiritual
depth and on events drawn from daily life also. Lectio looks to the Bible
as the word of God, a privileged text from which Christians receive
continued nourishment. Yet lectio is not Bible study, for it involves
neither an analysis of a scripture passage nor an emphasis on text
information. Scripture study is an essential supplement to ongoing lectio
but is not directly involved in this process. Above all, lectio is
undertaken in the conviction that God's word is meant to be a "good" word;
that is, something carrying God's own life in a way that benefits the one
who receives it faithfully. Lectio turns to the scripture for nurture,
comfort, and refreshment. Lectio is an encounter with the living God; it is
prayer.
Lectio is a way of deep prayer, of encounter with God. Yet this mode of
deep prayer differs from much modern practice. It involves reason and
discursive thought, an inner exploration of meaning. It connects daily
prayer both with the credal truths of the Christian tradition and with
life's current issues. Lectio fully engages the mind and the body as active
partners in spiritual nourishment. Lectio has both an active mode and a
receptive mode; both are essential to its practice. For example, the
meditative lectio phrase is not the same as a mantra, which is intended to
quiet mental thought in order to deepen spiritual centering. On the
contrary, in lectio we use the gifted phrase as a means of interacting
directly with the actual situations of life, evoking new images and
possibilities that empower us to live in congruence with our faith. The
lectio phrase is the fruitful word of God in the sense that Isaiah intends
it:
For as the rains and snow come down from heaven, and do not return there
until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving
seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out
from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish
that which I purpose and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah
55:10-11, NRSV)
**The primary source for lectio divina is monastic experience, especially
as required by the Rule of Saint Benedict of Nursia, who makes lectio a
substantial element in each day's schedule. He wrote the Rule in the
mid-sixth century, and it has formed the basis for Christian monastic
practice since then. See The Rule of Saint Benedict in Latin and English
with Notes, Timothy Fry, Senior Editor and Translator (Collegeville, Minn.:
The Liturgical Press, 1981) or Norvene Vest's commentary on the Rule called
Preferring Christ, which has a translation of the Rule by Luke Dysinger
(Trabuco Canyon, Calif.: Source Books, 1991).
Excerpted from the "Introduction" to Gathered in the Word by Norvene Vest, Upper Room Books,
1996. Used by permission.
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