pentecost grid blog:: (4) lectio divina

our pentecost service was an interesting mix in the end. I did a fairly minimal part of the planning really - just the executive holding of the reins - all the interesting stuff came from the wonderful  SerenaSnape and Rox, our Ordinand in training.  Serena is our Christian Aid rep. And we decided we should combine the themes of Pentecost with the part of the gospel that calls us to "feed the hungry; care for one of these little ones..."

In the event all the component parts of the service were good and interesting, but a few technological hitches here and there made its execution a bit less than sparkly. But never mind. Nothing ventured...

One of my favourite bits - the brainchild of our Ordinand, Rox - was to replace the sermon with a variation on Lecto Divina. I explained briefly what Lecto Divina is all about, and then we read Acts 2:1-4 - the passage about the coming of the Holy Spirit "like wildfire" as The Message puts it, and the disciples speaking in many different languages. Instead of reading smaller and smaller sections between the pauses, however, we read the whole thing in seven different languages - New Testament Greek, Afrikaans, German, Swahili, Norwegian and English. If I'd thought even harder (I realised this as the congregation flowed in) we could have had more - there were French, Spanish, and Latin speakers in the congregation, and probably a few more languages represented that I don't know about.

The effect was something like poetry. The idea of the passage came to life through hearing many languages, and in addition that feature of poetry - that the sound of the words is as important as their etymological understanding in grasping what they mean - came into play with various words for "pentecost", "rushing wind", "flames of fire". 

EDIT: Lectio Divina, which might be translated "prayerful reading", is one of the treasures of the Benedictine rule. In one form it applies to the slow, contemplative reading of scripture, allowing the words to penetrate one's soul in a devotional way, rather than focussing on the analytical, intellectual approach. (Although it must be said that the two are not mutually exclusive.)  Benedictines also apply Lectio Divina to any kind of sacred, spiritual, prayerful reading - for instance it is a common practice to eat meals together but without any chatter at all, listening carefully while one Brother or Sister reads from a spiritually enlightening text (not necessarily the Bible). One of Benedict's own sayings in the Rule was that at times (Lent, I think, from memory) books should be read straight through. It's worth thinking about the fact that the practice of Lectio Divina pre-dates the printing press, when the practice of reading would predominantly have been listening to someone reading out loud, rather than silent reading, which as an everyday practice only dates from early Modernism.

For some introductory notes to Lectio Divina, try here.

Comments

[rowan]

sounds amazing! but er, surely it's 'lectio'?
sorry, pedantic finalist mode kicked in there...

[maggi]

it is lectio, rowan - monday morning typos getting the better of me here. So happy I don't have to do finals EVER AGAIN....

[Brian]

Glad it went well. Sorry I couldn't be there. The Mitre has a lot to answer for (and I don't mean its wide selection of alcoholic beverages...)

[Kathryn]

Interesting...I'd wanted to include this somehow in my session with the youth, but couldn't think of a way that wouldn't involve technology, time and effort...none of which were hugely available. We did something similar in worship when I was training, reading the John 1 Prologue in assorted languages simulataneously(think it might have been for Bible Sunday). That time the huge impact was the way the word "Logos" seemed to cut across every other language. I somehow emerged from the session with a German Bible, too, which is rather a nice thing to own :-)

[maggi]

brian - hope you're feeling better today! We missed having the Northern Irish accent to add to the poetry - but next time!

[niallm]

hey, cambridge primary school teacher here.. i managed to make it along on sunday and dragged my mum along who was visiting from northern ireland... it was a great service.. really quiet and contemplative... space to think about what the infilling of the Spirit means for me today... it was also great to be somewhere with other christians were we look 'out'... loved the variety of media... it all fitted well together... choir were good, the reading in different languages was powerful... ill come again.. and bring my gown next time!