My practice of offering a modified lectio divina in the congregation I serve goes back to 2015, when I teamed up with a yoga instructor to offer an evening "Bible Study and Yoga" for women in the congregation. It was a wonderful calming and reflective time, but after my son was born and our yoga instructor moved away, we lost momentum and stopped meeting.
More recently, though, I started Meditation on the Psalms as a way to provide a Judeo-Christian spirituality option among the variety of classes and resources available at a local holistic living center. I go there for massage fairly regularly, and Emily (the owner and masseuse) and I always enjoy talking and dreaming together!
We originally planned for a brief (20-30 minutes) midday time twice a month for reflection and meditation guided by a psalm, and also tried an early evening time slot as well. The attendance was okay - I got a chance to connect with some new people, which was great! But after four times in a row with no one in attendance, I wanted to re-think the delivery method. Maybe I could "meet" a wider range of folks via the internet, and specifically Facebook Live.
So, I bought a flexible tripod for my phone...
And then hemmed and hawed because it is scary to be live on the internet! And something always came up during the times I loosely scheduled "record a video of meditation on the psalms" in my mental calendar. And ack! video on the internet!
But, finally, I did it. I picked a Wednesday afternoon and sat in the sanctuary with my Bible, phone and tripod balanced on top of the organ. (Note to self: get a tripod that's meant to hold a phone in portrait mode and it will result in much less frustration!). I recorded through the congregation's Facebook page, then shared on my personal page and was both surprised and delighted by the response.
Many friends, colleagues, and congregation members (especially those who are not regular worship attendees) expressed appreciation and shared the video. It was very affirming and emboldened me to keep doing it! I've been on track with recording once a week on a Wednesday or Thursday. It's been fun to try different locations around the church and times of day, though I have no hope of ever really understanding Facebook's algorithm and why things do or don't appear in newsfeeds.
Here's the most recent one, shared from Trinity's Facebook page:
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| Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash |
More recently, though, I started Meditation on the Psalms as a way to provide a Judeo-Christian spirituality option among the variety of classes and resources available at a local holistic living center. I go there for massage fairly regularly, and Emily (the owner and masseuse) and I always enjoy talking and dreaming together!
We originally planned for a brief (20-30 minutes) midday time twice a month for reflection and meditation guided by a psalm, and also tried an early evening time slot as well. The attendance was okay - I got a chance to connect with some new people, which was great! But after four times in a row with no one in attendance, I wanted to re-think the delivery method. Maybe I could "meet" a wider range of folks via the internet, and specifically Facebook Live.
So, I bought a flexible tripod for my phone...
And then hemmed and hawed because it is scary to be live on the internet! And something always came up during the times I loosely scheduled "record a video of meditation on the psalms" in my mental calendar. And ack! video on the internet!
But, finally, I did it. I picked a Wednesday afternoon and sat in the sanctuary with my Bible, phone and tripod balanced on top of the organ. (Note to self: get a tripod that's meant to hold a phone in portrait mode and it will result in much less frustration!). I recorded through the congregation's Facebook page, then shared on my personal page and was both surprised and delighted by the response.
Many friends, colleagues, and congregation members (especially those who are not regular worship attendees) expressed appreciation and shared the video. It was very affirming and emboldened me to keep doing it! I've been on track with recording once a week on a Wednesday or Thursday. It's been fun to try different locations around the church and times of day, though I have no hope of ever really understanding Facebook's algorithm and why things do or don't appear in newsfeeds.
Here's the most recent one, shared from Trinity's Facebook page:
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So - what *is* meditation on the psalms?
I chose the psalms for a few reasons - first, they were part of the Hebrew Bible long before they were part of the Christian Bible, and are thus accessible to a wider range of hearers.
Additionally, the psalms are full of such rich imagery that is so valuable when attempting to describe a little bit about what God is like.
And finally, I love that they capture the whole range of human emotion. The psalms show us that we can be joyful and full of praise, or angry and accusatory and despairing, and God can handle all of it. No filter needed. The psalms I use are generally the selection from the Revised Common Lectionary for the upcoming Sunday.
The meditation part is a modified version of lectio divina, literally "divine reading." It's an ancient monastic practice, which encourages silence, listening, prayer, and time for reflection as a devotional tool. Traditionally, there are four parts:
Lectio - read,
Meditatio - meditate,
Oratio - pray, and
Contemplatio - contemplate.
The text is read more than once, and also more slowly than usual, to allow for reflection and hearing in a new way. The hearer is encouraged to notice any words or phrases that catch their attention, and to reflect on how it connects to their current experience.
One of the nice things about a communal practice of lectio divina is hearing what others heard from the text. That piece is missing from the Facebook Live version, though certainly others are welcome to share what words and phrases stuck out to them in the comments.
In addition to the actual reading and reflecting, I begin with a short song as a centering tool (for now, it's Come and Fill Our Hearts, ELW 528) and end with a prayer that borrows language from the psalm. It's become slightly less scary to be in live videos on the internet, but a healthy dose of nerves is definitely helpful in focusing my attention!
Overall, this has been a good discipline for me. The chance to create and share something that is appreciated by others has been very affirming, and I am eager to explore other ways to utilize videos in my ministry (perhaps "going live" for the Gospel reading during Christmas Eve worship, and as a possible way of expanding the reach of the Bible Storytime I've been doing!).
Have you practiced some form of lectio divina before? What was it like?
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