Spirituality XI
Bishop Roger
By now you will probably have noticed an increase in your ability to concentrate and that is what is needed for another helpful exercise for developing the spiritual life – spiritual reading, also called Lectio Divina. This is not quite like the reading we are used to, but is an exercise which can be used with any reading matter, though it is usually done, of course, with the Bible or some ‘religious ‘ book.
I recommend that you use the Gospels in the first instance, and then move on to the epistles, the Psalms, some parts of the Old Testament, and then some of the readings in the Daily Office. Avoid Daniel and the Apocalypse – they are not really suitable for this work and use of them can lead to varying degrees of weirdness. When you feel the need you can move on to some of the other religious works – the English mystics are good, especially The Cloud of Unknowing, the ‘Metaphysical’ poets, Thomas Traherne – there’s a whole load of stuff out there, enough to last a lifetime - and some. My own view is that it’s best to start with the Gospels, which, after all, purport to be Our Lord’s own teaching, and with which you probably have a degree of familiarity.
So how is Lectio Divina different from ordinary reading? Well, it’s a spiritual exercise, not a means of learning in the usual sense, nor a form of relaxation, which are the two functions that reading is usually used for.
Here is the basic technique (details may vary from teacher to teacher). Find a quiet space and try to avoid disturbance for a short time. Ten to fifteen minutes is plenty.
Choose your reading matter, and start to read very slowly. It is a good idea to begin with a short prayer asking for help and guidance in your reading.
As you read you will probably find that some word or short phrase will become particularly comfortable to you. It may be something you have read or heard many times before, but this time it seems to ‘stick’. If that doesn’t happen by the end of your reading time then don’t worry, just choose a word/phrase that you like. Take this word into your day. When you have a free moment ruminate on that word – at the bus stop, while washing up, any time that your mind is not supposed to be doing something else. It is not wise to do this while driving, nor while working with machinery or sharp tools!
At the end of the day take your word to bed and go to sleep thinking on it.
Now this is not a rigorous task. There are no prizes for finding a fabulous explanation that no-one has seen before (the fact is that they probably have!). Your purpose is to find something for you, that you have perhaps not seen or understood before, that will help in the development of your spirit and your love of God. It follows that if you feel that you have been ‘shown’ some explanation that involves unkindness, or exclusion, that is not a correct understanding. Many people have found such negative revelations in the Apocalypse or Book of Revelation, and in some of the Old Testament writings, and they have on occasion led to serious harm to themselves and others, which is why I have suggested their exclusion from this exercise.
It is not necessary to do Lectio Divina on a daily basis. It is a helpful technique in the spiritual life, but if you try to fit it into a busy schedule it may be no help at all. This is a quiet activity which requires peaceful uninterrupted time. To rush it, as some people do with the Daily Office ‘because it is an obligation’ is to defeat the object. Take it slowly, when you have time for it, and let the peace it engenders become your benefit.
This is an important point. The spiritual life is a quiet peaceful thing, and requires time and patience. You may find that you do, in fact, feel that you can do more, because of the energy that that peace engenders, but it is not to be pushed or rushed. Better not to do something at all than rush in these matters.
This applies even more in prayer to which we shall come in the next part.
Remember in all these activities, which we instigate and do, the purpose is to provide a soil which we can prepare and till so that God can plant into it what he wishes in his loving purpose.
+Roger
