Lectio Divina - a holy reading of the Bible slowly, savoring it, and enjoying it with the Lord – is the spiritual practice of sacred reading of the scriptures. The intention is not to learn or gain information but to deepen our relationship with God. St Benedict encourages us to “to listen with the ear of our hearts.”Join me once a week for Lectio Divina. I will share a verse and a word that spoke to my heart. Read and listen to the verses here. And gently ask God for a word or phrase that speaks to your heart for that day – that is what lectio means. Once we find that gift, we hold it, meditate, and savor its meaning. This step is called meditation.Then offer that word back to God in prayer or the third step of oratio. In prayer we allow our real selves to be touched and changed by the word of God.Finally, we simply rest in the presence of the One who has used His word as a means of inviting us to accept His transforming embrace. No one who has ever been in love needs to be reminded … [Read more...]
You Tube, Prayer and Spiritual Growth
You Tube is not a tool I normally consider when researching the topics of prayer and spiritual growth. What is in your spiritual growth toolbox that you can use during times of dryness or difficulty? The best tool box is one filled with a variety of resources we can draw upon to help us celebrate the good times and thrive and learn from the troubled ones.I think we need to be careful as the vast variety of resources found on You Tube may differ from our beliefs and could also be filled with misinformation. Saying that, I have been fascinated in some of the creativity, information, and inspiration found on that site.Here are a few you may be interested in exploring:Spiritual Literacy: Reading the Sacred in Everyday Life, based on Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat's bestselling book, is a six-volume DVD series consisting of 26 meditative and soul-stirring half-hour films. These videos are absolutely beautiful and are visual delights. The words carry you beyond your everydayness into a new … [Read more...]
Prayer – Drawing Closer to God’s Heart
Our prayers nourish our spirituality. When we communicate – both talking and listening – with God, his presence molds our very being to be more like him. Prayer is vital to our spiritual formation.Prayer takes many forms but sometimes other people’s prayers just hit the spot. They express our deepest longings with just the right word or phrase. Their prayer becomes our prayer.My hope is one of the following prayers speaks to you as it carries you closer into God’s loving heart.Lord, let the thick skin that covers me not be a hindrance to you. Pass through it. My eyes, my hands, my mouth are yours. This sad lady in front of me: here is my mouth for you to smile at her ... This smug young man, so dull, so hard: here is my heart, that you may love him, more strongly than he has ever been loved before.- Madeleine Delbrêl, Missionary and activist (1904-1964)My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I … [Read more...]
Weekend Word of Power
The spiritual practice of sacred reading of the scriptures is called Lectio Divina - a holy reading of the Bible slowly, savoring it, and enjoying it with the Lord. The intention is not to learn or gain information but to deepen our relationship with God. St Benedict encourages us to “to listen with the ear of our hearts.”Join me once a week for Lectio Divina. I will share a verse and a word that spoke to my heart. Read and listen to the verses here. And gently ask God for a word or phrase that speaks to your heart for that day – that is what lectio means. Once we find that gift, we hold it, meditate, and savor its meaning. This step is called meditation.Then offer that word back to God in prayer or the third step of oratio. In prayer we allow our real selves to be touched and changed by the word of God.Finally, we simply rest in the presence of the One who has used His word as a means of inviting us to accept His transforming embrace. No one who has ever been in love needs to be … [Read more...]
An Invitation to Linger Longer with the Lord – A Spiritual Discipline
In my prayers lately, I sense the Lord inviting me to linger. To stay with him longer. To rest in his words. To pause in his presence. Even just saying the word out loud slows my tongue. LINGERLinger – what does that word mean? The dictionary defines to linger as “to be slow in parting or in quitting something; to remain although gradually dying, to move slowly.” Though at first I am attracted to the first and third definition, the reality of the second one – to remain although gradually dying – holds truth I often don’t face.I reread the story from Genesis 18 the other day about three travelers who visit Abraham. I knew the basic tale – three visitors arrived at Abraham’s tent in the heat of the day. He fed them and is told his wife will have a baby. Sarah laughs.But this time as I lingered with this story, I saw a new aspect to these verses: When three visitors unexpectedly show up, how does Abraham react? Abraham hurries and runs to offer hospitality – this is mentioned quite a few … [Read more...]
Spiritual Listening or Half Listening?
I nodded and pretended to be fully listening as my husband shared a story with me. The truth was I was listening to the noise inside of me – “Oh, I forgot to tell him that….I need to get that done before bedtime….I wonder how much longer is on the timer before supper is done….”Not really listening, was I? And I am trained as a spiritual director, one who listens intently to another’s spiritual walk. HA! I am failing at basic listening skills lately. I would wager many of you don’t fully hear another person either. We get too busy planning what we will say next or thinking about our to-do lists. And adding to the internal commotion, all the external noise that interferes with effective communication – blaring sounds from the television, chirping as emails arrive, and the boom-booming from the CD player.To be a good listening, I need to be silent. An anagram rearranges or unscrambles the letters of one word to create a new word. Use the word silent as an anagram and the result is: SILENT … [Read more...]
Ten Ways to Sharpen the Spiritual Saw
Steven Covey wrote The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. His seventh habit is called “Sharpen the Saw.” Covey uses the common analogy of a woodcutter who is sawing for several days straight and is becoming less and less productive. The process of cutting dulls the blade. So the solution is to periodically sharpen the saw. He tells the story of two lumber jacks in the woods sawing down trees. One of them is working feverishly at the task, rarely stopping to take a break. The other is working at a slower but steady pace and takes breaks frequently. At the end of the day, the lumberjack working at the slower pace has cut down twice as many trees as the one working feverishly. When questioned by the worn out, tired lumberjack as to how he accomplished twice as much in the same amount of time, and working at a slower pace, his answer is quiet simple: “I took time out to sharpen my saw.” He writes, “Sharpening the saw means preserving and enhancing the greatest asset you have – … [Read more...]
Powerful Pauses for Prayer Resources
This last edition of the series of pausing for prayer will feature some resources to help you explore more about this holy habit.What I LearnedI have learned a great deal in this experiment. I pay attention more to my surroundings and how God is touching my every moment. I consciously take deep breaths throughout the day, allowing a cloak of relaxation to gently cover my soul. And I hear God and my true self more clearly, not all the chatty voices of the world.ResourcesWant to learn more about what is called Praying the Hours, the Divine Office/Hours, or the Liturgy of the Hours?The book I used through this journey was:Seven Sacred Pauses by Macrina Wiederkehr.Other books that you may find useful are:Robert Benson’s Venite – a Book of Daly PrayerThe Divine Hours – Phyllis TickleThe Rhythm of God’s Grace - Arthur Paul BoersThe Internet offers many … [Read more...]