In soulful search of lectio divina

And a bucket full of it's cousins (other latin words), I now am privy to the definition of thanks to one Eugene Peterson.

Herein lies the latest "I need a break from this" version of my homework. I should just turn in my blog for assignments, hmmmm....me thinks perchance to say P.V. might not think it, shall we say "aprop." Ok, so I'll talk to you all in a one sided conversation long enough to give my brain a breather...too bad you can't object, right? I love a captive audience...

I told Eik tonight that I think the Presbyterians are trying to kill me (i.e. Tripp and Peterson). No they're really not trying to kill me, it just "feels" like it. How's that for a little strung out nouthetic humor?

So, I'm learning a lot about "the ears the Lord has dug for me" which I've recently been told is a more literal translation of Ps 40:6. It's been said that this poet was so bold to imagine God swinging a pickax, digging ears in our granite blockheads so that we can hear, really hear what he speaks to us through his word.

I don't know about you, but I can relate to a granite blockhead, so I'm thankful somebody else does too. OH and no I'm not telling you what lectio divina means...look it up, you'll learn something.

Ok, so evidentally there are four elements to this lectio divina...I won't bore you with more latin, but I'm going to throw some text at you from one of those that was particularly insightful to me, and maybe to anyone else that is what I'll call far less than a prayer warrior. Prayer is hard for me, I often wrestle with it, I don't think I do it "right" and I'm clumbsy and often repeat things...but Eugene tells me part of my problem is I don't often enough pray what I read "Oratio."

Here's some good stuff I pieced together as a remembrance to me:

"Reality as God reveals it to us by his word in Jesus is strange and unexpected and disappointing. This is not the kind of world we would have created if we had been given the assignment; this is not the kind of salvation we would have arranged if we had been on the committee; this is not the system of rewards and punishments we would have legistalted if we had had the vote...and thank goodness, for if we keep it up long enough, prayer by prayer, we find ourselves living in a reality that is far larger, far lovelier, far better. But it takes considerable getting used to. Prayer is the process of getting used to it, going from the small to the large, from control to mystery, from self to soul - to God.

It's not easy. It was not easy for Jesus those nights on the mountain, that night in Gethsemane, those hours on the cross. Nobody ever said it would be easy. But it's the way things are - this is the way the world is, the way we are, the way God is. Do you want to live in the real world? This is it. God doesn't reveal it to us by his word only so that we can know about it, he continues the revelation in us as we pray and participate in it.

We are well warned: it is not enough to understand the bible. God has spoken; now it is our move. We pray what we read, working our lives into active participation in what God reveals in the word. We'd better not take it lying down, for God intends that the word get us on our feet. From beginning to end, the word of God is a dialogical word, a word that invites participation. Prayer is our participation in the creation, salvation and community that God reveals to us in Holy Scripture."

Now if you're lucky *wink wink* maybe I'll write you something about lectio, metitatio or contemplatio.

*And with that threat, I just know my site meter is about to break a new world record for number of hits in a day.*

Thanks for indulging me (or not, if you didn't make it this far) in some extracurricular brain activity. I gotta get back to work...