​How to Prayerfully Read a Text—Be Soil, Dough, or an Oyster

What do soil, dough, or oysters have to do with reading a text prayerfully?

Meditative or prayerful reading is just one way to read sacred texts like the Bible or the Tao Te Ching. 

From studying the context within the text itself and the cultural context the text was written in to word studies and devotional reading, you could stay with one passage for a very long time, especially if you add Lectio Divina to the mix! 
 
Lectio Divina (Latin for “Divine Reading”) finds its roots in the ancient Jewish practice of meditating on Scripture but was formalized by Saint Benedict of Nursia in the 6th century.  It was a cornerstone for spiritual development for the first sixteen centuries of Christian history and has been in the process of recovery since the Reformation left it in the monasteries. 

And while it has been brought out of the monasteries and even has found its way into apps like Lectio 365, it seems we have to go through a bit of recovery ourselves like letting go of the idea that "more is better"!  As we do so, we are ready to enter into the meditative practice of Lectio Divina. 

By chewing on and resting with a single word or phrase that grabs our attention after slowly reading a short portion 2-3 times, we open to the divine wisdom offered through that word or phrase.  We listen to how God is speaking through it and respond to the invitations and insights through prayer and/or journaling.  As it takes up residence within us, the wisdom becomes embodied in our inner and outer world.    

Truly amazing.  
 
But after years of facilitating groups that practice Lectio Divina, it can still be difficult.  Why?
 
It is hard for us to give up control (even when it comes to prayerfully reading Scripture!). 
It’s much easier to study a text than allow it to study us!  We want it to stay in our heads by looking up the passages before and after the text, by comparing it to other translations, or  looking up what words mean in the original languages…all of these are very good practices, but they can be a way to by-pass the heart.
 
Instead, what if we imagine ourselves to be the soil that a single mustard seed is planted in?  Or the dough that a woman worked a little yeast throughout?  Or the oyster that allowed an irritant to stay within its shell?
 
What do these have in common? 

• They are receptive. (whether planted in, worked through, or living with)
• They receive something small. (whether delightful or irritating)
• They show that transformation takes a while.  (whether it is a growing plant, rising dough, or an irritant becoming a pearl)

        
Lectio Divina invites us to become soil, dough, or oysters. 

Be receptive to the power of a single word or a little phrase (whether it delights or irritates).  Spend some time with it, allowing it to spend time with and in your life.  

In time, you may discover the “pearl of great price” dwells within you! 
In time, you may become the nourishment (or beauty, medicine, wisdom) the world is waiting for!  And all of that through a single word or phrase. 

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