The Whisper of the Beloved: Lectio Divina

I used to do a personal retreat every year at the end of May/June. Usually by then I was exhausted from teaching both Bible classes and English classes. So to meet alone with the Lord in a little cottage at a retreat center was balm to my body and soul.

There were always inspiring reading materials in my little cottage. One year, I discovered a real gem — an article called “Listening for the Whisper of the Beloved,” by Jan Ord. It told of an ancient way of being with God and His Word and just listening. It’s called lectio divina.

I’m posting the article right here. Maybe you would like to join my sister “Branches” and me. We are reading and listening in passages from the gospel of John, chapters 14 through 17. Feel free to share your words/rhema from the Lord in the comment section below.

Whisper of the Beloved

By Jan Ord

In Union Life, Sept/Oct 1998

Lectio Divina is like the joyful reading of an ancient pile of love letters. It is a time to listen—not to dissect, analyze, evaluate or dialogue. It is not studying to learn about the Scriptures; it is reading to listen. Come to this reading and listening as a young lover would—eager to hear afresh the whisper of the Beloved.

WE HAVE LOST the art of listening. In our busy, information-saturated Western culture, we have almost forgotten that we are meant to listen to language, not just read it silently in our head to ourselves….

…. the written word is meant to be heard. It's good to read the Scriptures, but we need to learn to listen as well as read. And what I am suggesting is that we take the time to simply listen tothe voice of the Lord speaking to us as we read.

Lectio Divina (divine reading) is a way of reading for formation and transformation, not for information.

There are different ways of doing it, and I'd like to share with you how I do it. Even if you do it alone, read the passage of Scripture aloud. Listen to the sound of each word. Read slowly. And rest as you listen. Remember—this is a time to listen, not to dissect, analyze, evaluate or dialogue.

Choose a time when you will not be interrupted— enough so that you do not feel hurried, perhaps 20 minutes. Choose a passage of Scripture. Sit in a comfortable straight chair, and slowly begin to read, listening as you read. Listen as if this were the first time you have ever heard this passage. Listen as if it were the Lord speaking directly to you. Don't analyze what you hear. Don't try to connect it up to something else in the Scriptures, Don't try to apply it to someone else. This is a time for you and the Lord to be alone with His words. So, simply listen with both your ears and your heart.

When you finish the passage, pause for a minute or two, and just let the words sink in. Now, slowly read the same passage again. Pause again for one or two minutes. Then read it a third time, slowly. When you are done, just sit quietly with all you have heard for a few more minutes.

As you were listening, you may have found that a word or a phrase kept impressing itself on you.

 If you are reading with someone else, now is the time to share, without comment, that word or phrase with them. If nothing impressed itself upon you, then just keep quiet. No comments or evaluations of anything shared need to be made. This is a time to simply listen to what you are hearing internally.

After a few more minutes of quiet, each of you may pray aloud, or silently, in response to what you have heard. A word or a short phrase of response, or just a quiet "Thank you, Lord," is all that is needed. 

That's all there is to Lectio Divina. It's as simple as that. I encourage you to add this way of being with the written Word of God to your normal devotional practice. It is not studying to learn about the Scriptures. It is reading to listen; out of it may come prayer. And out of it may come the desire to study the passage more deeply. But its purpose is to put us into an awareness of being in the Lord's presence in a listening, receptive mode.

What are the best Scriptures to read? You may wish to use a portion of your daily Bible readings. Or you may begin a book in the Bible—the Psalms or the Gospels, perhaps—and read a portion each day specifically as your Lectio practice.

One community I know read the Gospel for the following Sunday. They read it twice a day every day for the week. And, they tell me, they generally find the Sunday sermon very rich because they have listened all week to that same passage from the Gospels.

I find that this way of reading is a very helpful exercise in preparing me for a time of centering prayer.

… the attitude that it fosters carries into every aspect of my life. I find it much easier to not comment on stuff that is going on around me. I watch and I listen much more contentedly. And, I find that my busy, busy mind doesn't have to be in control all the time. By simply practicing this reading and listening, I can listen without having to analyze, know the background, question who is speaking to whom, and what else was going on, etc. I can listen, knowing that right now, right at this moment, the Lord is speaking to me, even if the words were written to someone else thousands of years ago!

Lectio sets me free to be present to the sounds in my world. And it sets me free to ignore the sounds in my world that are none of my business! …

Please, don't see this as "another chore" that Christians "need to do" in order to be pleasing to God.Lectio Divina is more like the joyful reading of an ancient pile of love letters: letters written to you when you were young—perhaps a very long time ago. You will hear words which you may have forgotten and, as you listen carefully to them now, perhaps you will hear them afresh.

As you read you can hear the voice of your Beloved, you can see His face, you can hear His laughter.

Don't accept this reading of the Scriptures as a chore. (Don't do it if that's how you feel.) Come to this reading and listening as a young lover would—eager to hear afresh the whisper of the Beloved.