Overview: Trust me when I say that Lectio Divina changes the way you read, pray, worship, and minister by giving you a treasure of holy wisdom in your heart, soul, and body.

Verdict: For those unaware, Lectio Divina is an ancient form of devotional reading, prayer, and contemplation which deepens and broadens spiritual knowledge, wisdom, and faith. The practice is an embodied way to live the testimonies daily and gain confidence to share vocal ministry in Meeting for Worship.

Having grown up within a household that practiced this, Lectio divina comprises four elements: lectio (we read the text), meditatio (we meditate the text), oratio (we pray the text), and contemplatio (we live the text). But naming the four elements must be accompanied by a practiced awareness that their relationship is not sequential. Reading (lectio) is a linear act, but spiritual (divina) reading is not; for any of the elements may be at the fore at any one time.

This classic formulation of “lectio divina”, preceded by 1000 years of practices intended to shape reading into living, was by a European monk Guigo the Second in the 12th century.

And so what author Barbara Birch does here in her brand new book Lectio Divina: Revelation and Prophecy is invigorate and energize the mind, body and soul (and brain) of the reader to bring the history of scripture into our lives in a way that one might not have heard it brought forth before.

For Lectio Divina is a way of reading scripture that is reflective, meditative, receptive and responsive. With Lectio Divina, we read for transformation, not merely information. It’s a kind of reading that, instead of being quick and comprehensive, is a little more slow, and perhaps more in-depth.

Instead of trying to master the information, we seek to let God master us through the scripture. We read with our heart as well as our mind. As we are told, the first Quakers insisted that scriptures must be read in the Spirit which brought them forth, and that doing so can open us to divine revelation.

But the more contemporary of Quakers have invited us to approach biblical texts with a prophetic critique of oppressive social structures, as well with as an engagement that allows us to see the world afresh, with greater awareness and more attuned to what is actually holy.

And so what you get with this book is a deeper understanding, nay, a more compelling knowledge of how these collective Quaker experiences around Lectio Divina can bring a creativeness of worship into our own lives.

About the Authors - Barbara Birch is a Quaker with many years experience with a variety of spiritual practices. She is part of the Friends General Conference spiritual encounter program and a board member of Ben Lomond Quaker Center. She is active on social media (Facebook, Instagram). Follow her on Medium. She lives in El Cerrito, CA.

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