Reflective Reading: On the Path
Reflective Reading or Lectio Divina is a practice I find so helpful. It is slowing down and reading the words, feeling the message rather than just quickly scanning to get the information. We are in a back-to-basics sort of time as a culture. I’m going to try to share passages that have caught my eye on a more regular basis. How it works: Slowly read the passage several times. (Slowly being the key word-we’ve got nothing but time right now!) Don’t rush the reading. We aren’t reading for information, we are reading for transformation. Notice if a word or a phrase “sparkles” up from the text. “Sparkle up” means when a word or a phrase stops you, interests you, or causes you to feel something new. Think of being out for a walk and something shiny catches your eye. You stop and realize it’s a granite crystal that caught the light in a perfect way. If you hadn’t been paying attention, you never would have seen that one, particular rock. This is the same idea, look for a small part of the text that catches your eye. The final step is to look for the invitation. What does the word or phrase that caught your eye mean for you? Is there something that you can learn from that? Why did that word or phrase stop you? How can you live, think or be different? It’s that simple. Read the passage, slowly a few times. Note what words or phrases stand out to you. How does the passage make you feel? What is the invitation in the text to you? “We are always on the path to both (wholeheartedness or numbness) close to awakening and close to going numb. At each step, we are a breathe and a choice away from being wholehearted or partial hearted. With each risk, we are an act of courage away from broadening and deepening or a hesitation away from narrowing and lessening.” Mark Nepo Finding Inner Courage This passage reminds me of the power of choice. We are always just a single choice away, always, every day, in a million little ways, from broadening and deepening or narrowing and lessening. Each day I make choices for both! What a zig-zag path life is! Is this a choice that will broaden and deepen? Is this a choice that will narrow and lessen? It’s easy to frame broaden and deepen as the goal and narrow and lessen as the lesser choice. BUT, it’s not always that way. We could flip it and think about a choice that could broaden and deepen a pain, hurt or problem. And, there could be a choice that would narrow and lessen and thereby bring focus and more clarity. We get to use these descriptive words in the way the works best for us. On different days they might mean different things. These are words for the PAUSE, the moment, the breath, the reflection between stimulus and our response. Will I broaden, deepen, narrow or lessen? “So in your days, when feeling narrow and needing to broaden, when feeling less and needing to deepen, put down what seems certain and reach for what seems clear.” -Mark Nepo Finding Inner Courage If you like these questions, please consider SUBSCRIBING to The Art of Powering Down; Questions to Recharge Your Soul… Every week there is a question that will gently challenge you, encourage you, or help you live your life with more intention, grace, and purpose.
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