Johnson - Meeting God in scripture: a hands-on guide to Lectio Divina

You may use the forty meditation exercises in this book in any order you wish. They are organized by topic to help you choose the meditations that will best meet your needs. The eight sections address needs that most people experience. For example, I began meditating on Scripture many years ago because I sensed I had a delight deficiency. I did not truly believe that God delighted in me, so I meditated on passages that addressed that issue (see the meditation in this book titled Knowing I Am Loved).

When attempting any spiritual practice, its wise to consider how the Christian community throughout history has done it so that we can learn from them. For example, when you want to study a passage, you might have a look at Bible studies or commentaries that other Christians have written about the passage at different times and places.

At least since the fifth century, one of the primary ways Christians have meditated on Scripture is by reading a passage and then following the Jewish idea of taking hold and keeping Gods words (Proverbs 4:3-4). Christians began calling this process lectio divina, which is a Latin phrase for divine reading or sacred reading (from ecclesiastical Latin, pronounced LEX-ee-oh dih-VEE-nuh). The central idea of lectio divina is invitation. Lectio divina assumes that God is inviting us into interaction and conversation as we read Scripture.

There are four traditional steps in lectio divinaRead (lectio), Reflect (meditatio), Respond (oratio) and Rest (contemplatio). For these meditations Ive added two more: Relax and Refocus (silencio), and Trying It On (incarnatio).

Relax and refocus (silencio). Each exercise begins with brief guidance to slow down, quiet your inner self and let go of distracting thoughts. This is important because most people spend all day responding to stimulianswering the telephone, following schedules and evaluating what needs to be done next. Even when they wake up the first thing they do is check their phone for messages. So when they try to meditate on Scripture, these activities become traffic in their heads that keep them from focusing on God.

A way to interrupt this traffic is to focus on being present in the moment by breathing in and out deeplyeven overbreathing. It also helps to relax our body parts one by one: bending the neck, letting the arms go limp, relaxing the legs and ankles. Loosen each part from the inside out. This doesnt mean youre setting aside your mindyoure redirecting your mind away from the busyness that often consumes you. Being present in the moment prepares you to wait on the still, small voice of God.

If you are distracted, you may want to try the palms up, palms down method. Rest your hands in your lap, placing your hands palms down as a symbol of turning over any concerns you have. If a nagging thought arises, turn your hands palms up as a symbol of your desire to receive If you become distracted at any time during meditation, repeat the exercise.

If you are new to Scripture meditation, a focus question or activity is provided to help you quiet yourself and let go of distractions. As you become more skilled at Scripture meditation you may not need to do this, or you may find that option intrusive, as if the instructions are circumventing something that the Spirit might suggest. In that case, feel free to skip this option.

You may want to develop your own simple relax and refocus practice to use each time. Singing a favorite song may be helpfulespecially a quiet one, such as the old hymn Spirit of the Living God, Fall Fresh on Me. Or you may want to read a good quote, such as this one from Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Say it aloud, slowly.

In our meditation we ponder the chosen text on the strength of the promise that it has something utterly personal to say to us today and for our Christian life.... We read Gods Word as Gods Word for us.