• Rereading old texts
• lectio divina: way, not method
• How is the lectio divina structured?
• Where does the lectio divina come from?

Rereading old texts

How can I read the Bible so that ‘I have something of it’? Even if this question sounds rather selfish at first: it is justified. Because we all know it: a text wears out strangely when read repeatedly. A novel, for example, which I read some time ago with great enthusiasm, doesn’t seem too great the second time I read it. Of course: I already know the story. So I automatically read more superficially, less interested. How much more will that apply to biblical texts that I may have heard or read again and again over the years?

This is not just a problem for you and me. That’s why many ways of reading the Bible profitably have developed over the centuries. Last year, for example, I gave a seminar on the method of Inductive Bible Interpretation. This is a rather intellectual, one could almost say “scientific” study of the text. We dealt with the tradition of biblical texts, different translations, work with commentaries, and went as far as looking at individual Hebrew or Greek words. And indeed, this method helps to see old familiar biblical texts in a completely new light. We approach them in a new way, and that helps us to see the text from a different perspective.

The other extreme is the purely uplifting, pious interpretation of a text. For example, I read a story from the New Testament and ask myself: “What does the text want to tell me today?” So I’m only concerned with my immediate here and now. Questions like the original meaning of Greek words or different ways of translating them are not important to me. I simply trust that God can speak to me directly through his word.

As different as these approaches may be - in the right context they are all important and even necessary. In each of these (and many other) ways the Bible can come alive, I can be touched by it anew.

lectio divina: way, not method

In this series of articles we will deal with the lectio divina. It is not a “method” like inductive Bible interpretation. The special thing about lectio divina for me is: this way of reading the Bible brings us very close to God. For me, this is not so much a method as a way.

The term lectio divina consists of the Latin words lectio (english: reading) and divina (english: divine or sacred). So we can translate lectio divina as divine reading or sacred reading.

The lectio divina helps us to encounter God through the Bible. It helps us to deepen our personal relationship with God, going much further than just reading His Word. To do so, it puts the emphasis on attentive listening. Listening, contemplating, looking at what the text tells me about God. It means to enter deeply into a text. This goes much deeper than superficially asking what a text wants to tell me right now.

It is therefore a matter of no less than a dialogue. I say to God: “Here I am, I am totally there for you now. I want to meet you through your word.” Then I listen carefully, take in the impulses God gives me. And then I answer him, perhaps talk to him about what I have understood, and I am open to having my life changed. You could also describe this path as follows: in the lectio divina it doesn’t matter so much that I read the Bible. Much more important is to allow the Bible to read me: my situation, my strengths, talents and weaknesses. What’s going well, and the other things too.

And so the lectio divina brings these ancient and eternally valid truths from God’s Word into direct connection with my here and now in a wonderfully simple way. To my everyday life, to my upcoming decisions, my strengths and weaknesses, to my relationships, and to my own spiritual path. And this simply by allowing God to speak these truths into my life in a completely new way.

How is the lectio divina structured?

The lectio divina consists of 4 steps:

1. reading (lectio)
2. meditation (meditatio)
3. prayer (oratio)
4. contemplation (contemplatio)

(The Latin name is given in brackets.) We will look at each of these 4 steps in detail in the following articles.

At first sight, the lectio divina looks quite structured: first the reading, then the meditation, then the prayer, and finally the contemplation. But it doesn’t have to be that way. You will notice that when you have some practice, you feel what the next step is. Perhaps on one day, you will alternate a few times between reading and praying. Another time a short reading will lead you into deep meditation. It is not about a rigid corset that is supposed to restrict you. In time, everyone will discover their own path within the 4 steps.

We have already said: the lectio divina is a dialogue, a conversation with God. And a conversation does not always follow the same pattern. So the lectio divina is something very much alive. And that also means: what I am presenting to you here is from my own experience. Take it as an example, but find your own way.

Where does the lectio divina come from?

In the Old Testament we already find descriptions of a very meditative approach to God’s word. For example, the prophet Isaiah writes

When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty. (Jeremiah 15:16; NIV)

Jeremiah describes here that he “ate” the word of God. This is an interesting picture: obviously he wants to emphasize that he did not simply take note of the Word of God thoughtlessly, but that he “chewed all over” and “swallowed” it. The result of this, he says, was that he was completely filled with happiness and joy.

The monks, from very early Christianity until today, have the habit of studying individual Bible passages for a long time. Sometimes for hours. For this they coined the Latin term “ruminatio”, which means “to ruminate”. It is a sign of self-irony that they compared themselves to cows, which patiently chew the food over and over again, take it out again and chew it through again - until they have gained as much nutrients as possible from it.

Both the “eating” of the Word of God in Jeremiah and the “ruminating” in the monks is a form of lectio divina, even if the typical structure is not yet visible. The first to describe the lectio divina in the form known today was the monk Guigo the Carthusian. He explains this 4-step form of Bible reading in a letter around 1150, which he describes as ladder to God¹.

I’d be happy if you’d join me on this journey. If you don’t know the lectio divina yet, this is an adventure during which you may come much closer to God than you have ever experienced. Over the next few weeks, I will take you step by step along this path.

Cover picture: using a photo of [Priscilla Du Preez (Unsplash)]