Lent: The Prophetic and Poetic Paths Part 2

Poetic Path

Kathleen Norris frames Lent as a time of remembering or returning and embracing the rhythms of monastic practice.  It is a time, she would say, for contemplation and spiritual discipline.  As a poet and Benedictine, she sees Lent as a time to return to silence, simplicity, and a deep awareness of God’s presence.  She even speaks of the Lenten experience as something like the desert experience, recognizing that both dryness and struggle are part of the spiritual journey.  One of her primary practices is lectio divina, which is the slow, meditative reading of scripture. 

Following today’s blog, you will find an outline for the practice of lectio divina by which we allow the words of scripture to shape the heart and imagination, something essential in this age of distraction. Like Peterson, she would say that fasting is a practice of detachment, not merely from food, but anything that keeps one from being fully present to God, including our busyness, perfectionism, self-doubt, and abstracted faith.

Prophetic Path

Walter Brueggemann looks to the prophetic traditions of the Hebrew Bible and sees Lent as a season where believers are called to resist the dominant narrative, as he would call them, of empire: materialism, individualism, and injustice.  Therefore, he would say we fast not just from food but from the illusions of security, control, and excess that define our modern culture. 

One of his essential Lenten practices is simply truth-telling.  Lent invites believers to examine the lies that they have accepted about themselves, society, or about God.  This requires engaging deeply with the Bible, particularly the prophetic voices that call for justice, mercy, faithfulness, and care for the widow, the orphan, and the stranger in the land. 

We are the products of narratives about news, events, policies, and political practices.  In other words, we hear op-eds from many points of view about events that can mislead us into false information. 

• We can be comforted instead of confronted when a report confirms what our biases assert. 
• We can be misguided by the rhetoric of leaders until we compromise biblical teachings; soon, we no longer are able to hear the fierce and decisive words of God. 
• We can reduce God’s teachings to cliché or slogans. 

Following God in our time

Listen to Brueggemann’s teaching; you may need to read it a couple of times. Brueggemann writes that following God in our time “is profoundly countercultural, because the primary ideological voices of our time are the voices of autonomy: to do one’s own thing, self-actualization, self-assertion, self-fulfillment,”[1] i.e. “life apart from any purpose beyond one’s self.”[2]  Lent is a season of reflection on our life beyond ourselves. A life that welcomes and includes “the other” seeks out justice for all people and not merely “our people” and challenges Jesus’ followers to live differently in the world as people of sacred purpose. No longer captivated in the routines of indifference, no longer blind or deaf to the cries of “the least of these” in our society and global family, no longer comfortable living with our amnesia about the lessons of history that inform our life in our present culture.

I returned to what we said last week:  Lent is not just a season of giving up but of taking on the work of justice, the practice of prayer, and the journey of transformation.

Practice:

• In your final journal entry for Lent, ask yourself: “What have I heard myself saying to myself as I have read and pondered the work of these spiritual teachers?”
• Use the guidelines below for Lectio Divina, not only in this season of Lent but as an active part of your reflective reading of Holy Scripture.

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How to practice Lectio Divina

(Click here for a printable version)

Lectio Divina (Latin for “Divine Reading”) is a traditional Christian practice of meditative Scripture reading, prayer, and contemplation.  This practice deepens one’s relationship with Scripture and God, transforming reading into a lived experience.

 

1. Preparation (Silencio)

• Find a quiet place and center yourself in God’s presence.
• Offer a brief prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to guide your reading and reflection.

 

2. First Reading – Lectio (Reading: What does the text say?): select a text from the gospels. Try starting with John 13:1-11.

• Read the passage slowly and attentively.
• Listen for words or phrases that stand out to you.
• Consider the basic meaning of the passage in its context.
  • • Sit in silence for a moment to absorb the reading.

 

3. Second Reading – Meditatio (Meditation: What does the text say to me personally?)

• Read the passage again, deliberately and prayerfully.
• Reflect on how God is speaking to you through the passage.
• Ask yourself:
  • • How does this passage relate to my life?
    • What emotions or thoughts arise as I read?
    • Let the words sink deeply into your heart.

 

4. Third Reading – Oratio (Prayer: What do I say to God?)

• Read the passage a third time, letting it inspire your personal response.
• Engage in a conversation with God about what you have received.
• Express gratitude, ask for guidance, or seek strength to apply the message to your life.
• Offer any burdens or struggles in prayer.

 

5. Contemplatio (Contemplation: Resting in God’s Presence)

• Sit in silence, resting in God’s presence.
• Let go of words and thoughts, simply enjoying communion with God.
• Allow God’s word to dwell in your heart without effort or analysis.

 

6. Actio (Action: How do I live out what I have received?)

• Consider a concrete step you can take based on your reflection.
• Carry the message of the passage with you throughout your day.
• Seek to embody God’s word in your actions and relationships.

 

 

 

Keith Anderson, D.Min., is a Faculty Associate for Spirituality and Vocation at VantagePoint3 and President Emeritus of Seattle School of Theology and Psychology and is the author of several books, including Reading Your Life’s Story (IVP, 2016), A Spirituality of Listening (IVP, 2016), and Spiritual Mentoring (IVP, 1999). Keith’s newest book, On Holy Ground: Your Story of Identity, Belonging and Sacred Purpose, will soon be released from Wipf & Stock Publishers. In his writing, teaching, and mentoring, Keith seeks to set a table for people looking to enter the “amazing inner sanctuary of the soul” in the most ordinary and extraordinary moments of life.

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[1] Walter Brueggemann, Hopeful Imagination: Prophetic Voices in Exile, p. 19.
[2] Ibid., p. 19
Photo by Brett Jordan: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-close-up-of-a-bible-with-the-word-micah-written-on-it-20150016/