Why spiritual practice?
We sense that the time has come again for the Christian faith to be practised, lived and loved, more than just learned as knowledge (as important as that is). The disciples learned a way of life from being with Jesus as well as from hearing him teach. So the Christian path is something that we do, even something that we become, as much as something that we believe. We hope that you personally will find this reorientation towards a life rooted in spiritual practice liberating and life-enhancing, and that this will be an experience that you will share with the children you work with. When working with this material, ask yourself:
- What could this practice look like for me?
- What could this practice look like in the lives of these children?
- How can I help them explore these possibilities in the time we have together and in other settings (home / family meal / school / church / all-age service, etc)?
Lectio Divina: a meditative approach
Background
Place in the Christian tradition
The Christian faith has always placed great emphasis on the texts of scripture; on their hearing, reading, pondering, discussing and proclamation. Scripture has always been understood as full of truth, ‘God-breathed’, and as having the capacity to shape lives and change the world for good. The particular practice of Lectio Divina (sacred or holy reading) evolved in the monastic tradition. It is a process of slowly engaging with the text, allowing it to ‘speak’, and then to take the reader or hearer deeper into union with God.
Our contemporary context
Words surround us. We are constantly using words, learning their power and tussling with their meaning. And words are continually evolving for new circumstances. Who would have used the word ‘selfie’ just a few years ago? The word of scripture is a great gift, and we want to encourage our children and young people to engage with the text. The nature of scripture, with its many styles and forms, can be challenging. But one of the great gifts of Lectio Divina is the way that it enables each of us, adult or child, to receive the gift of a piece of scripture, whether it’s the very first time we’ve heard it or we’ve heard it many times before.
The practice
This month’s practice
It’s important to find a way to make the transition from our usual state of activity to a point at which we are able to enter Lectio Divina. This could be something like the sort of stilling process outlined in the first practice in this series, ‘Prayer’ (in issue 13).
Practice principles
There are four classic steps in Lectio Divina. This is how those steps have evolved in our own use and experience:
Lectio
The sacred reading begins with Lectio: a slow reading of the text, repeated by one or more voices, with an openness to the possibility that the text may have a word or phrase that is a particular gift for the hearer. A good question to ask here is: which word or phrase is catching your attention?
Meditatio
In Meditatio, the focus moves to wondering about the phrase or word that has come to the surface in the text. A good question to ask now is: how do you sense this word might be a gift to you at this time?
Oratio
In Oratio, the sacred reading moves into prayer. Silently repeating the word or phrase that has caught our attention, we allow it to become our prayer, letting that phrase carry all our prayers and hopes.
Contemplatio
Finally, in Contemplatio, our focus moves beyond our own words and yearnings, and onto God, to being in the God’s presence, unafraid, joyful, at peace. Putting these together could look like this...
Preparatory stillness
- Hear the passage spoken (Lectio).
- Ask what caught the children’s attention and how it might be a gift, and have a conversation around this (Meditatio).
- Pray with the words (Oratio).
- Go back into stillness (Contemplatio).
The practice in your main settings
Solitary ideas
Encourage each child to use Lectio Divina to read some scripture on their own for a week. You can do this by printing the passage in the middle of a larger blank sheet. During the week, as the children rereads the passage, they can write or draw around the edges of the sheet as they go through the Lectio steps.
Ideas for the family
Have a conversation about favourite (and perhaps least favourite!) words or phrases used in the family. Look for a way to include scripture more in family life; for instance, putting up verses where people spend time, such as by the kettle or where they clean their teeth.
Ideas for a Sunday school group
Video different members of the group speaking the same line(s) from the text. Play these back for the first step (Lectio). Have a conversation around the gift (Meditatio). For the third step (Oratio), ask the children to write, draw or paint a word that is a gift to them and let that creativity be a prayer.
For a younger group who cannot read, get them to lie on the floor and listen to the adults around them reading a short passage a few times. Then they can sit up and say what word seemed the most important to them from what they heard. Before you read the passage, explain any words you think the children might not understand. Make sure the passage is communicated in a way that is appropriate for the age group, but don’t be frightened to use scripture that expresses the reality of life.
Ideas for a family service
Prepare a few people of different ages to speak the short text (Lectio). Have the passage printed out in different versions and posted around the church. Encourage people to move around the building, reading and rereading the words as they go. Encourage people of different ages to read them to each other.
Have a conversation about how this text could be a gift to us as a church community at this time. Explain that the gift of scripture can come as a tough challenge as well something reassuring. Incorporate any key word or phrase into prayers.
Helpful tips for this month’s practice
- Keep the Lectio Divina text short.
- Each time you use Lectio Divina it can help to very briefly set the scene. Explain where, when and for whom it was written, and explain how the Church has traditionally understood the gift of the passage. This gives the sense that we are not alone in working with the text.
- Avoid telling people what the passage must mean to them. Trust the Holy Spirit to open up meaning.
- Encourage children not to force the process. If a word or phrase doesn’t resonate that’s fine.
