If,
by chance, one hears or reads about Lectio Divina (LD), one might be
tempted to think that practising it would be relatively easy after a
brief reading of a text, or after attending a few hours' teaching on
it. Nothing, however, could be further from the truth as the
following guidelines, or steps, will show.
Terrace
Cultivation
First
and foremost, LD is a Grace from God.. He calls us – it is not we
who decide – to practise LD. It is not a human initiative but comes
from God. And the Grace of implementing the practice of LD is like
the water that irrigates in "terrace cultivation". The
water comes from a Divine Source that has been released from on high
and is coursing down the terraces, supposedly going from one to the
next and the next and so on. But if we look carefully the water
doesn't necessarily run down automatically, watering all the Terraces
of our being. Some areas might receive the water, others not.
The
garden of our being has different levels, from the highest to the
lowest: spirit, theoretical mind, understanding mind, practical mind,
the devout higher will, the strong will, the practical humble
rooted-in-the-earth will. The cascade of water does not always
succeed in going from one level to the following one. It can remain
trapped at a certain level, accumulate and never descend.
The 7 Steps to Implement LD
Introductory
Steps
1-
You hear about it, you learn about it. You learn the "theory"
of LD: You attend the two lessons of the Course dedicated to LD. You
might attend a third lesson on "Reading the Bible in the
Spirit".
2-
You do a practical lesson together: by attending a "guided
lectio divina" in order to see how it works in reality.
3-
You read about it in a book. You might even add to that and attend a
workshop on LD.
Practical
Steps
4-
You start practising it. You should start where you are, that is, as
a beginner: which means that you use a dose of the Scriptures adapted
to your capacity. Like a traveller, start by taking a minor road
(reading one paragraph a day from a Gospel, from a letter of St Paul,
some extracts from the Old Testament), then progress onto the avenues
(maybe today's Gospel), then finally onto the Motorway: LD as
explained in the course i.e. with the two readings of the Mass. If
you don't have time during your day, you ask the Lord to help you
find it (He will rearrange your life, when and how His Wisdom finds
it appropriate).
5-
You meet a tutor in order to check your own practice of LD: you state
humbly that you are having difficulties practising it (which is very
normal) or even that you simply can't do it as it was explained: it
is not working. “- LD seems not to work.” “- LD is impossible.”
In fact LD is the most difficult task on earth.
In
order to reach that humility of acknowledging that we are failing,
requires examining our conscience, identifying what is not working.
Checking, then, with an experienced tutor, is an act of humility and
allows the Lord to guide us and adjust our practice, to see what is
lacking.
It
is important to realise that acknowledging the theory is one thing,
but implementing it often comes with one or two pieces of the puzzle
missing. Usually we can't see them by ourselves. We need the help of
others. God likes this humble behaviour of our believing that He
loves to act through the Church and in it.
6-
From time to time (every few months) you should check again with the
tutor to see if you are really continuing on the right track.
Fruitful
Steps
7-
Since LD has become the first essential ingredient of your Spiritual
Life, since LD has become such a powerful experience that brings
guidance, light, transformation and joy to your life, you should
spread it around you. It is a sin to keep good things to yourself. It
is like stealing the Grace of God, appropriating it to ourselves, as
if it is something due to us. In such an event - God forbid - we are
eroding Jesus' Call for us.
It
is true that the first step to spread the practice of LD comes by
being an authentic witness to it: by practising it ourselves. Then,
we need to spread it around us with all the means at our disposal.
Coming
back to N°5
Mentioning
all the elements that compose LD is done during the Lessons. The
books contain all that is needed to know about it. It is all there.
But grasping the odd aspect, requires the seven steps of
implementation, especially the fifth: meeting with a tutor,
recognising that we are failing, or that we have serious doubts about
succeeding in doing it properly, revealing how we do it, will allow
the Grace of God to use this conversation in order to underline what
is lacking. Only the experienced tutor will spot what is lacking and
put the person - by the Grace of God - on the right track. This is
how God acts, he likes to go through a brother or a sister, whose
mission is to help in that matter.
The
missing ingredient will be revealed when the student meets the tutor.
It is necessary to realise that the first four steps inclusive are
still not enough in the majority of the cases.
Things
can be very clearly mentioned in the Course and in the book. But a
"one to one" "personal" awakening, can only
happen with the Grace of humbling ourselves to seek the Lord through
the "flesh" of the tutor.
Conclusion
Have
you done your LD? When you wake up in the morning, first things
first. Let us behave like real sons of God: take time to listen to
His Voice, take time to meet God who longs to speak to us.
