Your everyday, ordinary life

Romans 12:1 So here’s what I want you to do. Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.

I know, I know, I’ve skipped to Romans, and I’ve been in Isaiah, but I decided today I wanted to talk about an amazing process of listening to scripture called Lectio Divina. I was in a small group for about 15 years, and it became the main focus of our time together. We would choose the Gospel passage that was going to be preached on the following Sunday, and went through this process with it. So here is how it goes in a nutshell:

1. Someone reads the passage and everyone else listens. Then, after a brief silence, and going around the group starting with the person on the reader’s right (it’s important to have a plan for how to share, what the plan is is less important) people share what word or phrase stood out for them, or they say “pass”.

2. Someone reads the passage a second time and everyone listens. This time, they listen for how the passage touches their life, for some kind of sensory or emotional connection they make, putting themselves into the passage. When they share, they might answer the question: what do you feel, taste, see, experience? Or they say “pass”.

3. Someone reads the passage a third time and everyone listens. This time, they listen for an invitation for the next few days, something they are invited to say or do. They share that invitation, or say “pass”.

4. Everyone prays silently for the person on his/her right for 3 – 5 minutes.

OK, I’m sharing this with you because I have had the most extraordinary experiences listening to scripture in this way. I use a similar process with my reading – I notice which verse or verses stand out for me – but because I’m reading larger chunks of scripture I don’t read it 3 times. I also find it’s quite a different experience listening rather than reading. At my last, new small group meeting almost 2 weeks ago we used a passage from Romans that included this verse, and when the invitation step came around, this was what jumped out.

So I did it. For the next almost week, every morning as I sat in silence (my meditation time) I remembered to offer my ordinary life to God. Sort of a, “This one’s for you” thing. And what was amazing was the extraordinary peace and contentment I experienced during that time. It was enough! My life, just as it was, was sufficient, fulfilling, satisfying and rich. Now, I was on vacation, on a trip, but some of the circumstances were very trying, believe me!!! And, it’s also not that I haven’t found a level of peace and contentment in my life anyway, but somehow this just increased it to a new level. And helped me enjoy my trip even more, and the people I was with, and the circumstances surrounding it, and even the frustrations were much less aggravating.

What I’ve found particularly striking about my experience doing Lectio in groups is how often people will hear entirely different things! Now, that’s not always the case; sometimes, we’re all on a wavelength, and the invitation in the passage hits us in a similar manner, but often people are hearing wildly different things, things that are specific to their own lives. And when you approach this process with quiet and a sense of the presence of the Spirit, scripture can become your own personal Spiritual Director, addressing the particular needs of your current circumstances, and drawing you toward God, and an increasing awareness of God in your life, that can be quite extraordinary. I invite you to try it.

Prayer: Dear God, I have heard Your call recently to share the contemplative gifts You have brought into my life. I thank You for this call, and the encouragement You offer me. I offer up this blog, and my work and my relationships and my ordinary, everyday life to You as an offering of love, honor and joy, in gratitude for all You have blessed me with. Amen.