I really should employ my friend Maria to be my blogging assistant. Whenever I lack inspiration or energy to come up with a fresh, new topic, she provides through the sharing she does on our writers’ email list.
If you’re not in the mood for a poem today, no worries. But if something sweet and rich is just the thing the doctor (or your mother) has ordered, take a moment and savor the words of this reflection, “Lectio Divina.”
If you’re wondering what lectio divina is, it is literally translated as “divine reading.” I’ll provide more explanation if you’re interested at the end, and then, by all means, read the poem again to siphon even more meaning from it.
I’ve borrowed the first line for my title today, in part because my 44th birthday is right around the corner, and my birthstone is the blue sapphire. So it’s feeling like a time when I can actually imagine, even feel, what sapphire light must look like, and just as important, the mood it would create.
“In sapphire light they gather…” I want to know more. Just what are they doing in that blue-hued light?
Let’s take a peek…
LECTIO DIVINA
In sapphire light they gather
And are gathered by God
An assembly of cowls
Men hidden inside their souls
So the world cannot peer in
Eyes bright as pearls
They read about Him
In the tiny, curved places
Where God’s ear is closest
His voice clearest
In the serifs, parentheses,
Apostrophes, the calligraphy
Of creation and apocalypse both,
Light and wounds
The one in the other when
The Word enters in silence.
They have become adjectives
Seeking the only noun that counts.
~Philip C. Kolin
“Seeking the only noun that counts.”…Him.
I’m going to rely on good old wikipedia to help me explain lectio divina. In essence, it’s a traditional practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God’s Word, treating Scripture not as texts to be studied but as the Living Word.
Lectio divina contains four steps: read, meditate, pray and contemplate. And again, rather than a theological analysis, the practice approaches Biblical passages by focusing on Christ in determining their meaning.
Example: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you.” (John 14:27) An analytical approach would focus on the reason for the statement during the Last Supper, the biblical context, etc. But in lectio divina rather than “dissecting peace,” the practioner “enters peace” and shares in the peace of Christ.
Those who practice this form of meditative prayer seek an increased knowledge of Christ. And though the roots of this practice go back to the 3rd century, Pope Benedict XVI has emphasized the importance of lectio divina in the 21st century — right here, right now.
I have never experienced Scripture reading this way, but it’s intriguing to me. And as a writer, the poem carried so much meaning even without the experience to fall back to.
His voice clearest
In the serifs, parentheses,
Apostrophes, the calligraphy
I am drawn toward these words and the peace I feel through this poem.
Q4U: In what ways have words brought you peace?
No wonder we’re blue with the sapphire as our stone!
This mantra gives me inner peace: You are exactly where you are supposed to be right now.
That, and knowing that I am not, nor do I need to try, to be in control of anyone or anything.
Peace to you, Peace Garden Mama.
Ohh, I love LD! I try to do it when I feel like I need a shot of God! But, thinking about your question I find myself coming back to song lyrics often. they seem to jump out at me more than words on a page. Been praying for you in this really exciting season of your life!
Very though-provoking! I actually loved the line:
“They read about Him
In the tiny, curved places
Where God’s ear is closest”
I get a lot of peace from reading scripture and also from reading other positive things. 🙂
Goosebumps..I’m working today on a curriculum for small groups that uses lectio divina as its prayer pratice, so I just LOVED this imagery: “the tiny, curved places
Where God’s ear is closest”
Thank you for sharing!!