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How do we practice sacred reading?

To begin a session of sacred reading, we should, first of all, be comfortable.  It is harder to listen for God’s still, small voice if an aching back is clamoring loudly for our attention.  

Next, we select a passage to read.  We might have chosen a book of the Bible to work our way through, or a psalm, or we might be reading a book that a spiritual companion has recommended to us.  We could, conceivably, use the daily newspaper or some other “secular” source that might speak to us about God’s intention for our own lives.  We might begin with a short prayer asking the Holy Spirit for guidance and wisdom.

We read slowly and thoughtfully, chewing on and digesting the words and sentences that we are reading.  We hold our minds open to a word, phrase or sentence that grabs our attention, that speaks to us in a special way.  We are not reading to cover as much material as possible in whatever time we allot for this exercise.  If we read a sentence, we can read it again, even several times, like we might savor a choice morsel of food.  

Nor are we seeking the literal meaning of what we read.  We are, by our sacred reading, asking God to speak to us, to let us hear God’s words to us through the printed words before us.  God may grab our attention with a thought inspired by a word of the text that has little or nothing to do with the meaning of the  actual text itself.

Here is an example: Consider the first verse of the familiar Psalm 23:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

As we read this sentence slowly and thoughtfully, dwelling on each word and phrase, we might be struck by the word “my.”  Yes, the Lord is my shepherd.    The Lord cares about me personally.  I am important to him as an individual.

Or we might be focus on “shepherd.”  The Lord protects me as a shepherd protects his sheep.  I am safe under the protective vigilance of God.

Or perhaps “want” attracts our special attention.  It may suggestion all the things we want for ourselves instead those things that would be spiritually good for us.  It may remind us of other passages from Scripture, such as, “Seek first the Kingdom of God,” or “Seek and you will find.”

We should not force ourselves to focus on a particular word or phrase, but should be open to whatever God is trying to teach us, whatever God wants to draw our attention to.  

Perhaps nothing jumps out at us.  We might read slowly and not have any portion of the reading seem to speak to us in a special way.  That is all right too.  We are available to God if God chooses to communicate with us.  It is our openness to God that counts.  We do not keep score in sacred reading, nor do we compare notes with friends to see who got the most messages.  More important than even the insights we gain from sacred reading is our willingness to be available to God.

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Chapter 7 - Sacred Reading

What is “sacred reading”?

There is a practice that is part of the monastic Benedictine practices called lectio divina, or sacred reading.  Sacred reading involves more than just reading the Bible or some other religious work.  Rather, the practice is intended to foster reflection, prayer and, ultimately, contemplation.

It is not unusual for persons who want to grow spiritually to read the Scriptures or other inspirational works on a regular basis.  One might ask, however, why anyone should engage in such reading, or, if someone does engage in it, how he or she should go about this reading.  

The question, at first blush, may seem foolish.  One reads to learn.  But what then does one want to learn, and why?

Remember that the goal is God; that is, we are to accept God’s invitation to come to union with God in love, and, through God’s action, allow God to draw us into his own life so that we can come to know God as he knows us.  No amount of study can bring us to the direct knowledge of God.  All study can do is teach us about God.  And since the mysteries of our faith cannot be adequately expressed in any form accessible to our natural faculties, the result of our study will necessarily be incomplete and may even be misleading.

One reason to study, of course, is to better prepare our minds for the service of God.  Anyone who wants to be a physician needs to learn the science and art of medicine.  One cannot simply pray one’s way to a medical degree.  If someone is to teach Sunday School, that person must know something to teach and learn techniques for presenting the material that are likely to be most effective with his intended audience.   If someone wants to tell someone else about her own denomination or about Jesus Christ, it is better that person be well-informed than ignorant.

But sacred reading is not primarily reading for acquiring facts, or to train ourselves for some particular vocation or ministry.  We engage in sacred reading to say yes to God’s invitation to come to union with him in love and to open our souls to his transforming action.  In sacred reading we actively listen for what God wants us to hear and invite God into our souls to change us into what God wants us to become.

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A note on Ignatian contemplation

One problem encountered in reading about prayer and spirituality is that different authors and schools of thought use the same word to refer to different things.  Two theologians, for example, may be discussing  “grace,” and seem to be in total disagreement, whereas the problem may be that they each are using different definitions of grace.  This certainly occurs frequently with regard to the subject matter of this book since authors and speakers will often use meditation and contemplation interchangeably, and they often do not distinguish between active and passive contemplation, which we will see shortly, is a critical distinction indeed.

Saint Ignatius Loyola was a Spanish nobleman, born toward the end of the 15th century, who founded the Roman Catholic religious order the Society of Jesus, more commonly known as the Jesuits.  When a Jesuit talks about contemplation, he is often referring to a form of meditation known as Ignatian meditation, but he may also be referring to the use of images or religious pictures to inspire active contemplation.

Thus, when a Jesuit author or retreat leader suggests that someone “contemplate” the face of Jesus, or contemplate Jesus on the cross, what he means is that we construct in our imaginations an image of the face of Christ or an image of Jesus hanging on the cross and simply dwell on that image.  The image may inspire us with feelings of joy or sorrow, or may lead to a spontaneous outpouring of verbal prayer, or it may provide the inspiration for quietly resting in God, active contemplation.

Let me mention again that active contemplation is a means, not an end.  If constructing say an image of the cross in our imaginations, or looking a picture of the crucifixion, leads to spontaneous verbal prayer or to deep emotions that enhance our resolve to serve God more faithfully, we ought not to scorn whatever form of prayer we find ourselves attracted to because it is the not the active contemplation we were expecting.  We must always be open to whatever form of prayer the Spirit leads us into.  The goal always is God, not prowess in a particular form of devotion.

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The Prayer of Quiet Presence

Two persons who love one another deeply do not always have to be talking to one another, even when they are together.  Two lovers are often satisfied simply to be in one another’s presence.  They quietly sense and wordlessly enjoy their mutual love.

Our faith tells us that God is present with us always and that God’s love for us is greater than we can imagine.  Thus, we might engage in active contemplation by simply recognizing God’s presence and God’s love and resting quietly in that love, conveying to God at the beginning our own love for him and our desire to be with him, to be present to him as one lover to another.

Our effort to be present in quiet resting to God does not mean that we will not suffer distractions any more than simply being in the presence of a dear friend implies that we will not be distracted by concerns or thoughts of what we still have to get done that day.  But we can hand our concerns and the various tasks that still await us to God, perhaps with a quick prayer that God help us in our troubles and bless the work that we do by allowing us to make it an offering of love to God and those we serve.

Once again we ought to be comfortable when engaging in this, or any other, form of active contemplation.  It may help to have a special location, a “prayer space,” in which we conduct our prayer.  A regular prayer space may, like a church, remind us of our intention to open ourselves to God; and our continuing use of that am space may enable us to become so familiar with it that its novelty will not be a distraction.

Breathing and prayer

Some suggest that the way we breath is an important factor in active contemplation.  Slow breathing, for example, is considered by many as helpful to the Jesus Prayer.  There is even such a thing as  “breath prayer.”  One form of this prayer involves slowly inhaling, asking God to let us receive the Holy Spirit, the breath of God, in this inhaling.  As we slowly exhale, we ask God to take away from us all impure motives and thoughts that are obstacles to God’s transforming grace.  We can vary our prayers as we inhale and exhale, for example, asking God to impart holy wisdom or courage to us as we inhale and release to God some fault of ours as we exhale.

The breath prayer can be very relaxing and serve as a helpful preparation for a session of active contemplation.   If you do the breath prayer, do not do it for an extended period of time, or breath in and out deeply and quickly, since you may hyperventilate and risk fainting if you stand up suddenly.

Use of the breath prayer as a preparatory exercise for active contemplation raises the question whether there are other exercises that might also perform the same function.  As mentioned above, a “sacred space,” including a comfortable chair as well as perhaps candles and religious art, well away from the noise and bustle of the home or workplace, can be a significant aid.

Having other persons present who are also engaging in prayer, as one might find at a retreat house, can often be of assistance because the presence of God frequently seems to be reinforced where “two of three are gathered” in the name of Jesus.

Fasting prior to a prayer session, or some special devotional might help.  Reading,
looking at religious art, some form of prayer or meditation other than active contemplation may lead into active contemplation as we will see when we consider Lectio Divina.

All in all, the goal of any form of preparation for active contemplation is to quiet the mind and senses, provide an environment of comfort and freedom from external distractions, and to ask God’s help in opening oneself to God.  You should always feel free to experiment with these goals in mind.   How you choose to pray is literally your choice, but be open to how God may be calling you to pray.  Ask God to direct and teach you.  Do not think that you are a failure if you do not “feel” God there when you pray.  Nor should you be discouraged if your friends are carried away in prayer and you seem left behind.  God asks that we try, not that we succeed.  God will give us those gifts we need to come to him in love.

We now consider one additional form of active contemplation.

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Some fruits of the Jesus Prayer

  The prayer, faithfully repeated with the proper intention, will result in a positive transformation of life.  The same might be said of any well-founded spiritual regimen, provided, as always one remains faithful to it, engages in it with the proper intention, and is willing to be open to God’s will in her regard.  Nevertheless, the Jesus Prayer may bring special fruits.

First, the prayer places us in a humble position with regard to God.  Through the prayer we recognize that we are sinners and wholly dependent on the mercy of God to come to God.  Of ourselves, we can do nothing to bring about our theosis, but, with God, all things are possible.  God will have mercy on those who plead for it.  This prayer stands in stark contrast with spiritual practices that purport to enable the pray-er to grow into the life of God through her own efforts.

The Jesus Prayer also reminds us that we are talking to a person, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God.  We are not dealing with an abstract God or a mysterious notion such as “enlightenment,” or a somewhat vague concept such as the “center of our being.”  We are calling out to a specific individual, a human being like ourselves, but who is also God, the Way by whom we can come to union with God.   Through this appeal to a real and present Jesus we are asking for help in our incorporation into the divine life.

The Jesus Prayer is also an aid in humility.  Humility is not unduly putting ourselves down, nor is it belittling the real talents we have or our dignity in the sight of God.  Humility is honesty.  If we have talents, we are to use them in the service and love of God and other humans.  If God has loved us, we are to return love for love, even though we may recognize that we do not deserve whatever favors God has granted us.  

But, in honesty, we must admit that we are all sinners.  If we generalize sin to mean any obstacle that stands between us and union with God, we recognize that there remain many aspects of our being that do not yet belong to God.  Of our own efforts, we cannot come to union with God, so our limited humanity is itself such an obstacle that can only be surmounted by the power of God himself.  The Jesus Prayer reminds us that we are sinners and are totally dependent on the mercy of God to achieve union with God.  This prayer is a humble expression of our human condition and a plea to God to allow us to transcend our innate limits through God’s grace to enter into the life of God.

In our struggle to open ourselves to God, there is always the danger of deception, either self-deception because we want to control our spiritual progress rather than allowing God to do so, or deception from outside ourselves, be it from malign spirits or other humans who, even inadvertently, might lead us away from the path God would have us follow.  It is a common human failing to choose means of prayer and ministries that are satisfying to the person, but that may not be what God would choose for the person.  We set our course and ask God to bless us on our way instead of seeking the course that God wants for us.

Most of our self-deception or desire for control is not malicious.  It often stems from a need to believe that we are pleasing God by what we do, which, in turn, stems from a genuine desire to know God, the God-instinct that is a part of every human being.   Saying the Jesus Prayer with the right intention asks God to lead us as God wants to, not as we might choose for ourselves.  We are asking Jesus for mercy, and, implicitly, to take control of our lives and do with us whatever is necessary to transform us into what God wants us to be.  In invoking the Name of Jesus, we also protect ourselves from any evil spirits that might wish to distract us or lead us astray since no such spirit can withstand the One to whom all power in heaven and earth has been given and who definitively won victory over the powers of death on the Cross.

Note that in the Jesus Prayer we are not asking God for anything specific except mercy.  In this sense the Jesus Prayer simply places us before God with an open mind and heart, asking God to do what God deems best for us according to his mercy.

We might stress once more that there is an essential difference in the attitudes and beliefs underlying the Jesus Prayer and prayer techniques that emphasize the role the pray-er in his or her own transformation.  The Jesus Prayer requires an appropriate asceticism and openness on the part of the pray-er, but there is never any doubt that it is God who must effect the desired transformation.  The Jesus Prayer places the pray-er as a humble supplicant before God, asking God to do what only God can do.  

In some religions such as Buddhism and in New Age practices, actually a form of ancient Gnosticism, it is the pray-er who is the spiritual athlete, the one who by appropriate exercises can recognize that he or she is the Buddha or can fan into flames the divine spark that lies smoldering within every human being.  There is little middle ground between “We can do it ourselves,” and “We are totally dependent on God.”  One might say, “God helps those who help themselves,” but a basic premise of this book and of Christian spirituality is that God alone has the power to bring humans into the experience of God.  Will God do this even for those who believe that they are coming to divinization by their own efforts?  I cannot say.  I can only say that those who take the view that they have within themselves all the power they need to realize their divinization are not in the Christian spiritual tradition.

We now turn to two other forms of active contemplation.

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The proper attitude for the Jesus Prayer

Because God is so exalted and humans are so sinful and small in relation to God, there is a profound sense of  poverty of spirit in daring to offer prayer of any sort to God.  As one Orthodox saint, Isaac the Syrian phrased it, “When you turn to God in prayer, be in your thoughts as an ant, as a serpent of the earth, as a worm, like a stuttering child.”  Lest this seem a bit extreme, remember that many of the greatest saints, having experienced God as fully as one can in this life, thought of themselves as nothing in comparison with God, and often as the greatest of sinners.

Approaching God in prayer deserves nothing less than our complete attention.  One would not dare speak to the President of the United States or the head of a large corporation without a certain amount of fear and without giving the matter careful thought and total concentration on what we are about.  As another Eastern saint expressed it, “we ought to stand prayerfully before Him in deepest reverence . . . directing toward Him all our attention, concentrating in our attention all the powers of the reason, heart, and soul, and rejecting distractions and vain imaginings, whereby we diminish alertness and reverence, and violate the correct manner of standing before God, as required by His majesty.”  Distractions and an agitated state are, therefore, inconsistent with the proper recitation of the Jesus Prayer.  To quote again an Orthodox source, “The Hesychia must be accompanied by lack of worries, watchfulness of guarding of the mind, and unceasing prayer to gain the true union with God.”

The basic premise behind the Jesus Prayer is that vocal prayer said with the proper intention and concentration will turn into mental prayer, and mental prayer will lead to an even higher form of prayer called the “prayer of the heart.”

We note that the prayer itself has power.  It is not merely our concentration on saying it, or its constant repetition, that is effective.  The very mention of Jesus’ name is enough to scatter the demons that might be tormenting us; the call on the mercy of God brings down on the pray-er the mercy of God.  The admission that one is a sinner brings forgiveness and grace to avoid sin in the future.

As was noted with regard to Centering Prayer, any conscious effort to avoid distractions will make the pray-er even more distracted.  Therefore, one using the Jesus Prayer must expect that progress in reaching a quiet state of mind will be reached only over time.  In a sense, the cliche from Alcoholic Anonymous, “Fake it ‘til you make it,” is suggested here.  One prays the Jesus Prayer as best one can with the intention of yielding oneself to God and, over time, the pray-er will find that his relationship with God will deepen as will his mode of praying.

As one might suppose then, using Hesychastic prayer involves strict discipline.  One cannot expect results in a day, or a week, or even over a long period if the pray-er devotes herself to this prayer only a few minutes each day.  The Jesus Prayer is meant to permeate one’s life, to be recited constantly even while one is engaged in other activities.  The Jesus Prayer and an ascetic life-style are meant to go hand in hand.  Thus, Hesychasm implies a monastic mentality even if one is living outside a monastery.  It is not a prayer for those who wish to dabble in prayer.

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Theosis

A central concept in Orthodox spirituality is theosis, or “divinization in Christ.”  This concept was introduced in an earlier chapter, but it bears almost endless repetition because of its centrality, often unappreciated and neglected, in Western Christianity.   Through union with Christ, we grow into the life of God.  Important theologians of the early Church taught that “God became man so that man might become God,” and “We become by grace what God is by nature.”

Thus, the Incarnation is not merely a means by which sin can be forgiven so that human beings might sneak into heaven under cover of the Atonement.  The Incarnation is the union of God with Creation so that Creation might be received into the life of God.  The unbridgeable gap between Creator and Creation has been bridged by the God/Human Christ, so that humans might, through union with Christ, come to union with God by the power of God and become God as much as creatures can become God.

Indeed, the only way that we can truly know God is become God.  Since we cannot become God as fully as God is God, we can never truly know God as fully as God knows Godself.

Think of it this way.  If you are married to someone you love deeply, over time you
become more like your spouse.  You understand the spouse more completely because you share that spouse’s life and enter into his or her patterns of thought and being.  The shared life becomes more like one life.  And in that one life comes a deeper knowledge of the spouse.  But you never become the spouse.  You always remain yourself so your knowledge of your spouse is never complete.  This analogy of our growth into the life of God is imperfect in many respects; for example, God does not change as we are transformed by God’s power.  We become like God, but God does not become like us.

Despite the exalted condition to which the Eastern Orthodox believe God invites humans if they will accept his invitation to union with him and allow him to transform them into what he wants them to become, they also have a deep sense of the sinfulness, even the depravity, of fallen humanity, thus, the strong identification with the tax collector not daring to lift his eyes toward God and repeatedly pleading for mercy.

Hesychasm then is not merely the recitation of the Jesus Prayer, but includes the attitude with which it is said and the entire circumstances of one’s life.  The Jesus Prayer is said unceasingly to achieve union with God and as a technique for spiritual purification.  It is as one Orthodox source says, “a way of life and a fundamental method for healing the soul.”