First Steps In Lectio Divina: A Guided Teaching Audio

Hello,

This is Mark Gladman,

Also known as Brother Frederick James,

Your friendly neighbourhood monk in docks.

And in this special,

Partly guided meditation part talk,

I'm going to walk you through a Lectio Divina exercise.

I've had a number of people ask after listening to the Act and Art of Lectio Divina teaching audio whether I would actually demonstrate Lectio Divina as a process.

And so that's what we're going to do here.

And so this will be an actual Lectio,

But I will introduce each section as we go so that you get a grasp of what we're going to do with each section.

All I ask is that you please remember that in your own practice of Lectio,

After you've had a listen to this and get a feel for how things are to move,

That you won't get too caught up or bogged down in the structure as such.

As you'll remember from the Act and Art of Lectio Divina audio,

The whole process of Lectio,

While it might start very structured,

Eventually becomes this conversation that's a lot more fluid than the different sections seem to indicate.

So let's pray and then we'll walk through a Lectio together.

And for this particular Lectio,

I've chosen the passage where Jesus visits with Mary and Martha.

I thought it was very appropriate for learning how to sit at the feet of Jesus.

So let's pray and then we'll begin.

As we sit at the feet of God now,

May our ears be open to hear,

Our minds be open to think and reflect,

And our hearts be open to receive the good seed of the word that we hear today,

That what it is that jumps out at us will sink deep into the soil of our hearts and bring forth good fruit in our lives and in the lives of those around us.

Amen.

Now the first movement of course in Lectio Divina is Lectio itself,

That is the reading.

And so as the passage is read through this first time,

You're reading the text and you're asking God,

What is in this text that you would like me to focus upon today?

And opening yourself up to the Spirit to speak to you about which part of the text resonates.

I don't know,

Maybe feel it deep in your spirit or your eyes will be drawn to it or your mind will be pulled towards it.

And remember that it could be a word,

A phrase,

An idea that's prompted by the word or the phrase.

Perhaps there's an image or a scene that you see in your imagination from the passage that you're reading.

Maybe there's some sort of backgrounding that you're doing in your mind as you read this passage that you get a slightly different angle on what's going on and your focus is drawn in.

And so in this part of the process,

Listen.

Listen deeply with your heart.

Notice what's happening within your mind and within your body and your heart,

Your emotions as you read and see what it is that Spirit is drawing you to reflect on today.

Then afterwards we're just going to sit in stillness for a moment and we're going to think about what that is and allow that word to start to form in you as you open and are attentive to what God might want to say to you through the passage today.

And so we begin.

Now as they went on their way,

Jesus entered a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.

She had a sister named Mary who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying.

But Martha was distracted by her many tasks and so she came to him and asked,

Lord,

Do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself?

Tell her then to help me.

But the Lord answered her,

Martha,

Martha,

You are worried and distracted by many things.

There is need of only one thing.

Mary has chosen the better part which will not be taken away from her.

And He will not Earthquake.

You you The second movement in Lectio Divina is meditatio This is where we meditate on the passage Now remember meditation has two parts to it meditation is an activity of both the head and of the heart and so in meditatio what we're doing is we're literally chewing on that word or phrase and In listening to the passage a second time you're allowing that word or phrase to continue to deepen as its context and Its particular message for you from that context moves in you and from that allowing the thoughts About this passage to arise in response To the word and listening to how that resonates in your heart And so meditatio as we read a second time Now as they went on their way Jesus entered a certain village Where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home She had a sister named Mary who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying But Martha was distracted by her many tasks and so she came to him and asked Lord Do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself?

Tell her then to help me But the Lord answered her Martha Martha You are worried and distracted by many things There is need of only one thing Mary has chosen the better part Which will not be taken away from her Which will not be taken away from her You The Next movement is or a she-o This is the movement where we begin a conversation with God About the passage this is where we start to ask questions and to think through ideas and I Think perhaps the most beautiful part of this is the encouragement to speak it And Personally at least quite often.

I think that when I say things I give myself a chance to hear them and in doing so there's a way of pondering them and deepening What they might be saying to me and how I might respond to them And so this is a prayer That's offered with faith and openness to God About what the scripture might be saying to us And beginning to ask those questions about how this word might change us or transform us What it is about this word that is really important for our lives right now.

Why did spirit draw us to this particular verse or word or phrase And then beginning to think about how we might move from this As we go forward after our time of lectio And so let us hear the passage again as we begin this process of arachio Now as they went on their way Jesus entered a certain village where a woman named martha welcomed him into her home She had a sister named mary who sat at the lord's feet and listened to what he was saying But martha was distracted by her many tasks And so she came to him and asked lord Do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself?

Tell her then to help me But the lord answered her martha martha you are worried and Distracted by many things there is need of only one thing Mary has chosen the better part Which will not be taken away from her So So The next movement and the final one in the traditional form of lectio divina is contemplation This is the part of our lectio divina process where we are simply Being with god the contemplation of what's been there now.

I don't get contemplation confused with meditation In meditation at least in lectio divina We're doing that that thinking process Within the context of the passage Contemplatio is different in contemplatio What we're doing is we're simply being With what it is we've just experienced or heard this is truly simply a prayer of the heart Of just sitting and being With god and allowing what has just happened the whole experience the lectio the meditatio the oratio To simply sink deeply within us And to I suppose allow some space and time for that full transformation to occur so as we read for a Fourth time I invite you to contemplate in the silence that follows and just simply be with god Now as they went on their way Jesus entered a certain village Where a woman named martha welcomed him into her home She had a sister named mary Who sat at the lord's feet And listened to what he was saying But martha was distracted by her many tasks And so she came to him and asked lord Do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself?

Tell her then to help me But the lord answered her martha martha You are worried and distracted by many things There is need of only one thing Mary has chosen the better part Which will not be taken away from her So So Now in the traditional form of lectio divina,

This would be the conclusion of our time of prayer and so we would simply conclude with a prayer of gratitude and thanksgiving and move into our day,

But In some ways that's an introduction To the fifth movement of lectio that some of the contemporary forms take up and that's the movement that's come to be known as operatio and that's when we put into operation that word that's been placed in our hearts and We start to allow it to take form in us as we put that word into action As we take what it's been that god has spoken to us or begun to change in us or challenged us to transform within us and we Carry that into action in the world as we go we go and do something that allows That word to begin to take its shape and form And we begin to process it in that way And so as we conclude our time in lectio divina,

I encourage you to do that today That whatever it is that god has spoken to you Through this passage of scripture as we've contemplated it that you would carry that Into your day and allow that change and transformation that action that needs to happen To occur at some point to allow the word to move through you Into reality to become incarnate really the word becomes flesh through you And so let's close in prayer as you carry that word with you into your day And so we give thanks for this time In scripture today We give thanks for the word that's been spoken to us by spirit And we pray that as we go into our day that this word will be made flesh in us And cause a change in our hearts that won't just be for us But that will carry through And to become something that will make a difference in the lives of others around us also Go with us we pray into our day now Amen Well,

Thank you for joining me and I do hope that this little exercise has helped you to see how the movements of lectio work together And please remember that it's not a hard and fast rule.

There's no set formula per se But hopefully you can see how lectio meditatio or ratio contemplation and operatio work so that you can utilize that structure to allow you to really enjoy Your time of prayer with the scriptures And if there's any other way I can assist you or you have any other questions,

Please don't hesitate to Get in touch with me and i'll be very happy to help you and support you as you explore The beautiful act and art of the word And as we explore the beautiful act and art of praying with scripture through lectio divina God bless you and go with you today Amen