Lectio is a way of praying with scripture. We often say that it is about reading, but I suggest lectio is more about listening.
etymology – what is lectio?
The Latin word lectio has two primary meanings. One of these is “reading” and that’s what most people will say lectio is – divine reading.
But the primary definition of this Latin word is “a picking or selecting.” Choosing if you will. Lectio is picking, selecting or choosing something from a text or whatever you are doing lectio with – it could be images or feelings or experience – whatever is before you. Lectio is a picking or a choosing.
The act of reading in our modern culture is a loaded thing. We all read an incredible amount of stuff each and every day, far more than even our parents did. And because of the volume, we tend to read in a specific way: we tend to do a lot of skimming, whether you realize it or not, which often leads to staying on the surface.
We are also, by and large, reading for information. We ask, “What does this piece of text tell me?” Let me find that so I can move on. We’ve become very production-oriented in our reading. In most settings, this is the only way to survive modern culture.
But this way of reading really hampers the spiritual life and especially prayer.
That’s why, when you hear the term lectio, I’d much rather you think of it in terms of listening: a sacred listening. When we engage in this form of prayer, we are listening to a text to pick up on what God might be saying through that text. This is about listening to God speaking to us through the medium of words.
How to do lectio
Following is a common process for this type of prayer, but some caveats first:
- There are many variations on the steps of lectio.
- How you do lectio can and should be unique to you. There is no “right” way to do it. It’s like anything we’re learning to do – we have to learn the proper form, but once we learn that form, we make it our own.
- Although the following gives what sounds like a linear process of steps, lectio is rarely linear.
The following process uses the written text as a basis, but it can be easily adapted to images or music or even personal experience.
READ
The first step is READ. Again, this is not the kind of reading we do today. This is not reading scripture trying to figure out the doctrine or belief. There’s a time and place for that, but lectio is not it.
This is about listening.
It’s during this reading phase that we look or listen for a particular word or phrase that jumps out. I like to use the word “shimmers” – it’s something that catches our attention because it stands out in some way – we might not even be able to articulate or understand why.
When you’re just getting started with lectio this is probably the hardest part, because it involves the shift from reading for information to listening to what’s deep inside of us. The more you do this practice, the better you get at letting yourself be captured by a word or phrase.
I like to suggest that you follow the emotions, particularly the uncomfortable ones. When you’re reading, and you feel a flash of anger or disbelief or uneasiness – pay attention to those emotions. Feelings of joy or serenity or peace are important as well. I think God many times works through our emotions, but we are culturally trained to discount them. Pay attention to the emotions.
During this phase, we are looking for a word or phrase to work with.
REFLECT
The second step is REFLECT. This is the studious action of the mind to investigate hidden truth, led by one’s own reason (Guigo Ladder of Monks).
This is where we sit with the word or phrase and see what it has to say to us. Reflection might sound something like this in your brain:
Hmmmm….. When I heard the gospel reading this morning, I kept hearing the word hypocrite.
That word made me cringe.
I wonder why that is.
I know a few hypocrites
But I wonder if there’s something more there.
I wonder if there are things about myself that are hypocritical that I need to pay attention to.
This step is about meditating and reflecting on what strikes us during reading; thinking about it; seeing what emotions or memories or thoughts come up; sitting with it and seeing where your thoughts take you.
Medieval writers would use the metaphor of a cow chewing the cud – the grass. Ruminating. A friend of mine likes to use the term marinating.
Not rejecting anything, not analyzing it, but welcoming everything.
RESPOND
The next step is to RESPOND.
This stage in lectio is where we begin to talk to God about this word or phrase and what’s come up in our reflecting. Continuing the previous example, I might talk to God about the hypocrites I’ve known and ask God to show me where I am hypocritical. Or I might ask God’s forgiveness for something hypocritical I’ve done recently.
We do everything in lectio in the context of prayer, and prayer is always a dialog. We talk to God, and we’re also listening and then responding to what we hear.
Again, these steps are rarely discrete or linear. We read, we reflect on it, and then we respond. In reality, these steps intertwine and interlace each other. We might read the text and have something shimmer. We then reflect and respond to God and reflect some more on what God says. That might remind us of something else in the text so we go start the process all over.
Sometimes we might read and jump right to responding – asking God to show us something and then reflecting on that.
This is not a linear thing. There is no right or wrong way to do.
In all these steps, pay particular attention to emotions. Also pay attention to memories and thoughts that come up. Sometimes we think thoughts are a distraction in prayer – that monkey mind! But thoughts and memories can be a vital tool of how God communicates with us. Pay attention to all of it.
REST
The last step is an invitation to REST. Some people use the term here contemplation.
This is where we let the rational mind rest and simply sit under God’s loving gaze. This is where we’re not worried about words, either to God or from God. We’re simply sitting in God’s presence, trusting that God is most at work in the silence.
And when God invites you to return to your reflection or responding, do so. Learn to use words when words are helpful, and to let go of words when they no longer are necessary. Rejoice in knowing that God is with you in both words and silence, in activity and receptivity.
We do all of this in faith that we are beloved in the presence of God, in faith that God hears us and speaks to us in ways that we cannot comprehend.
How do you choose what to do lectio with?
If you’re just getting started, I recommend the gospel selection from the lectionary readings.
I also remind you that lectio is more than a method – it’s really a fundamental stance towards life. God is always speaking – it’s our job to listen. And God can speak through anything if we’re listening.
Move through life always being on the lookout for what shimmers. Move slowly enough to stop and recognize that, to reflect on it. Then respond to God about it. And build in regular times to simply rest in God. All of this is the discipline of lectio, and it can happen anywhere at any time if we’re patient enough.
Brief history of lectio
You may wonder where does this type of prayer come from?
Some of the roots go back to Christianity’s Jewish ancestors. The Hebrew Scriptures are very lyrical, and most of it was meant to be sung or chanted. The purpose of that was to make it a part of the listener in a culture which relied on the passing on of wisdom through oral tradition.
No doubt, you’ve had the experience of getting a song “stuck in your head.” Something lyrical tends to stay with us in a way that plain words do not.
The earliest Christians brought that experience with them. Like their Jewish counterparts, they would memorize large portions of the Bible and then sing them or chant them. And it was for the purpose of listening to what God was saying through the text.
St. Benedict in the late 5th century was the first to make lectio a core discipline in the monastic world. Even today, Benedictine monks, will spend several hours a day engaged in this discipline.
This form of sacred listening has a long history, but the approach began to be lost in the modern era with its emphasis on a very logical and scientific approach. But the Benedictines and many other monastic orders held on to it as a fundamental part of their heritage, and it’s been “rediscovered” in recent decades by not only Catholics but other faith traditions as well.