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A Sacred Journey

practicing pilgrimage at home and abroad

Spiritual Formation Archives

Spiritual formation is a lifelong journey of drawing closer to the True Self and the Divine, with spiritual practices offering both scaffolding and a firm foundation for the search. Find posts on spiritual formation below, explore specific spiritual practices on the resources page, and sign up here to receive updates on new posts directly in your inbox.

How to Practice Lectio Divina

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The spiritual practice of lectio divina involves focusing in on what stands out to you and gathering new insight.

For the past two weeks we’ve been talking about re-interpreting and re-imagining our daily lives, our stories, and our journeys through a particular lens. A couple of weeks ago we looked at the Bible through the lens of pilgrimage, and I offered an Old Testament Retelling through the lens of pilgrimage (download it here). Last week, I shared my interview with Ronna Detrick about how she is re-imagining the stories of women in the Bible, bringing new life  and wisdom where there has been oppression and neglect.

Today it’s your turn to re-interpret and re-imagine through the spiritual practice of lectio divina. Lectio divina (pronounced “lexio”) is a style of reading and gleaning, and while traditionally used with scripture, it can also be used with poetry, music, or even art. No matter the medium, lectio divina (literally, “divine reading”) involves sacred encounter and guidance.

Lectio divina is a perfect spiritual practice for the pilgrim. In fact, the process of lectio divina is no different than the way the pilgrim encounters the world, both while traveling and at home. Filled with intentionality, curiosity, and desire, the pilgrim takes in (1. read), ponders (2. meditate), encounters (3. pray), and reflects (4. contemplate).

As you continue practicing viewing your daily life, your stories, and your journeys through the eyes of a pilgrim, lectio divina is a wonderful spiritual practice to engage in regularly at home, while on retreat, or while traveling.

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image from Flickr/Creative Commons

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Begin by first selecting your medium, whether a passage from the Bible, a poem, a song, a work of art, or something else you’d like to spend time with (it could even be outside!). If it is a passage, make sure it isn’t too long – it’s easier to focus in when the passage is smaller. Consider starting with a (shorter) psalm or the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12). If you’d like to use poetry, try “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver or “The Guest House” by Rumi (two of my favorites that I continually come back to). As you continue to practice, start a list of passages, poems, songs, etc. that you’d like to use with lectio divina.

After you’ve decided your medium, I suggest setting a timer for 20-30 minutes. Certainly you don’t have to stop when the timer goes off, but I find it best to set a timer for a longer period because it invites my westernized over-stimulated self to go deeper. Alternatively, you could set a timer for 5-10 minutes for each stage.

Now you’re ready to begin!

1. lectio | read

Read the passage through many times. Read it aloud; read it silently; read it slowly, pausing between each line or phrase. If you’re doing Lectio Divina with a group, have different voices read the text each time, and pause for a few moments of silence between each reading.

If you’re listening to a song, play through it a few times. And if you’re looking at a work of art, simply take it in.

As you continue to read the text (or listen to the song or take in the art), note what stands out to you: What draws you in? What resonates with you? What makes you uncomfortable? What leaves you with questions? You will take this phrase (or with art, an image) with you into step 2, meditation.

2. meditatio | meditate

Now it’s time to focus in on the phrase (or image) that stood out to you. Bring the phrase to mind and meditate on it; repeat it in your mind slowly, noticing what comes up for you. As feelings emerge, let them sink in without distracting you from your meditation – the phrase might still have more to give.

3. oratio | pray

As you transition from meditation into prayer, begin communicating with God about the phrase (or image) that stood out to you. Explore what made the phrase stand out to you initially and share any feelings that came up for you during your meditation. As you share these things in prayer, take note of any new insight you are given in regards to the text and/or what has been awakened in you through your phrase.

4. contemplatio | contemplate

As your time in prayer comes to a close, spend a few minutes in God’s presence contemplating what has happened within you throughout the time of reading, meditation, and prayer. Bring to mind any new insights you’ve received during this time, whether personal or in relation to the text, and let them sink in, coloring your way of being. You might be surprised how much such a simple and quiet process can alter your perspective and give you new direction.

GO FURTHER…

I want to hear about your experience with lectio divina: Is it a new practice for you? What new insights or experiences have come from your lectio divina practice?

Redeeming the Scriptures: An Interview with Ronna Detrick

I first came across Ronna Detrick when I worked in the Office of Students and Alumni at The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology.  She was being featured in an alumni newsletter I was putting together, so I thought I would check her out on her website.

I was immediately intrigued (and truthfully, in love) with her approach to spirituality and her advocacy for the Sacred Feminine – the beautiful, wise, and mysterious feminine aspect of God that has often been undermined or forgotten in a traditionally patriarchal faith. 

Through the connection of the Dean of Students and Alumni, I’ve since had the opportunity to get to know more about Ronna (a powerhouse) and her spiritual work with women (prophetic and inspiring). Recently, Ronna has been digging deep into the stories of women in Scripture, uncovering their spirits from the rubble left by oppression and redeeming these women as valuable, unique, and worthy figures in the greater story. Just as we’ve been talking about reading/seeing through the lens of pilgrimage, Ronna re-visits these stories through the lens of the Sacred Feminine, offering a new way of faith for us all. 

Below you’ll find my interview with Ronna about her work and her process. At the bottom, you’ll find a special gift from Ronna just for you!

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“Eve,” “Elizabeth,” and “Extravagant,” above, are part of an artist collaboration between Ronna and Callahan McDonough, for sale here.

Describe the work you do in revisiting and (re)interpreting Scriptures, particularly those which are well known.

The easy answer is that I give myself permission to re-imagine Scriptures’ stories of women in brand new ways. The more complex answer is that I am completely enraptured by them, as if they wind themselves around my heart and beg for me to make them known. Sadly, too many of them have been interpreted in ways that steep them in either shame or silence. And I believe that as long as they stay in such places that we do, as well. I’m not OK with that.

When did you first begin looking back at Scripture and finding new themes and stories that you had never noticed before?

When I was in Seminary I took both Greek and Hebrew. I began to realize that the textual interpretation process has always been highly subjective; that words have been translated in particular ways for particular cultures and even particular agendas. To realize that the adjustment of the smallest of marks on the smallest of words could completely alter how we understood a particular concept or story was eye-opening and heart-expanding for me. I recognized that I had just as much permission and ability to interpret the texts as any of the men who had gone before me – for thousands of years. This was (and is) incredibly empowering and freeing.

What was it that made you look at these Scriptures again through a new lens? Were you seeking answers to a question? Had you changed, and therefore the way you saw these well-known stories changed?

In addition to the original languages mentioned above, I took a class called Feminist Critique and was exposed to both feminist theory and feminist theology. It is still hard for me to believe, but that was really my entry-point into feminism – at 41 years of age. And once the window had been opened, the floodgates opened.

And simultaneously, yes, I was changing. I had grown up in the church and had been steeped in both its culture and its doctrine my entire life. But it slowly began to feel less and less relevant to me, less and less connected to my heart. I was hungry for a way to know and interact with a God who felt intimate; to whom I could relate in a distinctly feminine way. That search continues, to be sure, but along the way it has been the stories of women who have companioned, guided, supported, and led.

Why is re-examining these well-known stories important for us today? I know some might find it uncomfortable (re)interpreting and questioning words that have been the same for centuries.

I am deeply aware that to step into the world of (re)interpreting Biblical text feels dangerous and dicey to many. And though I used to feel that way and even understand it, I don’t ascribe to it any more.

The stories we’ve learned have been told in particular ways. And those tellings have shaped the world as we know it: systems of power, politics, economy, social justice (or lack thereof), and certainly the condition of women around the world.

This reality, though sobering, actually encourages me. If the telling of those stories had the power to create this world, then the retelling of the same stories – in redemptive and powerful ways – has the power to change the world. And I’m all for that.

Describe your process in revisiting these stories and uncovering new truths. Do you begin with a question? Do you do any additional research? How do you know that the new interpretation you come to is sacred or from God?

My process is usually two-fold. First, and most importantly, I ask the women in the text what they long for me to know and understand. I let them speak. I imagine their voices, their emotions, their experiences, their perspectives. I try and get into and under their skin. And believe me, in that process, they get under mine.

Secondly, I read and do research all the time – constantly downloading new books on feminist theology and interpretation, ways of thinking about the Sacred Feminine, and certainly innovative storytelling of these ancient texts.

Stunningly, what I read – from highly trained and reputable scholars – almost always corroborates what I had thought and felt for myself. And, of course, that then validates that I’m on the right track, that I’m inviting ways of seeing these women anew that will change everything.

This question of how I know that what I come to understand is “of God” may or may not satisfy your readers, but here it is. I trust that what I hear, comprehend, perceive, and understand – deep in my bones – can be trusted; that I can be trusted. And my validating “proof” comes from the story of Eve: the crowning glory of creation, made in the image of the gods. I am her legacy. I am her kin. And as such, it is my birthright to know God’s intimacy and care as she did; to trust in and act on that same intuitive knowing. Not the way her story has predominantly been told, but you’d expect no less from me, would you?

Is your primary work less with the text specifically, and more with how the historical and cultural interpretations of the text have affected us? I’m thinking particularly of your (re)interpretation of Eve’s story, and how typically it has been used to silence and degrade women.

I would hope that I’m striking a balance between “work with the text” and discussing “historical and cultural interpretations.” One begets the other in my experience. And so, in the story of Eve, it is equally as important to pay attention to the text itself as well as the ways in which the interpretation of her story has impacted thousands of years of history for women and frankly, for men, as well.

How would you describe the importance of realizing how our own reading of Scripture can affect us in both negative and positive ways?

A “negative” reading of the text, in my opinion, is when we fail to take into consideration the context and agenda inherent from when it was written – and how it’s then been interpreted throughout time. To assume, at face value, that there is only one way to read it feels far too simplistic and sadly, the cause of so much harm throughout history and ongoing.

A “positive” reading of the text honors all that has gone before and recognizes that it is powerful enough to allow and engender new understandings, new tellings, new truths. The pages are opened with curiosity and even with the expectation that our own thoughts have value and, as stated earlier, can be trusted.

If the text is to have value it must be allowed to breathe – as must the stories within them. I hope that is what I do; resuscitate women who have been gasping for fresh air, fresh eyes, fresh ways in which their influence can be profoundly felt.

Being that we’re in the Easter season, how has your work in revisiting and reinterpreting Scripture brought redemption to your spirituality and faith? What has been resurrected in you because of your work?

I am completely certain that were it not for the stories of women in Scripture, their companionship in the darkest parts of my own story, and their ongoing presence in my day-to-day life, I would not have sustained my faith; nor could I, ongoing. Reimagining them has enabled me to reimagine myself. Redeeming them has redeemed me.

Finally, what’s the next story you plan to explore, and what are you seeking in your exploration?

I’m leaning toward both Deborah and Abigail – and will undoubtedly do them both; though I don’t know who will come first. I love both of these women: they are of profoundly courageous, wise, and kind – in unorthodox ways. And not surprisingly, what I love in them is what I long for on my own behalf. They inspire me to be more of who I am; Deborah and Abigail, to be sure; but every woman in Scripture.

The stories of women in Scripture deserve to be re-imagined, retold, and redeemed in ways that honor them as icons of inspiration and sources of wisdom, truth, and deeply feminine strength. Only when that happens, can we as women recognize our own wisdom, truth, and deeply feminine strength…and then (continue to) change the world.

GO FURTHER…

I’m curious: What do you think of Ronna’s work? In what ways are you finding redemption in the retelling of old stories, both in your life and on the page?

BONUS! SPECIAL DISCOUNT

Ronna has graciously offered all of our readers a 15% discount* on products or services at RonnaDetrick.com when you use the following code at checkout: lacy

*discount not available for use on Kindle book or Sacred Art

ABOUT RONNA

Ronna Detrick loves nothing more than having provocative conversations about God and women. She realizes this is an oft’ taboo topic which, quite frankly, makes her want to talk and write about it even more! She’s been blogging for over seven years, providing Spiritual Direction even longer, and figuring out what it means to live someplace between faith and doubt for as long as she can remember. She is writing a book on the desert experiences of women and the beautiful, winsome companions to be found in the re-imagined stories of scripture. You can get her musings, her writings, and her heart directly in your inbox. And you can learn even more about her products and services here.

Celtic Spirituality: An Interview with Tom Cashman

Before I attended The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology, I had never heard of “Celtic Spirituality.” When I heard the term “Celtic” I thought of knots, music, and dancing, and to be honest, I never was a huge fan of any of it. But it was through my time at The Seattle School, and specifically in the Celtic Spirituality class, that I realized how life-giving Celtic Spirituality could be for my own faith and spiritual practices.

As I learned more about the way Celtic Christians viewed and interacted with God in the world – within our being, our surroundings, as well as beyond space and time – it was as if  a long awaited gust of wind was finally filling the sails of my sailboat, initiating a new and enriching journey. Celtic Spirituality’s emphasis on the image of God within us, as well as its holistic engagement of the Trinity and its recognition of the feminine aspects of God, awakened me to not only seeing the sacred in text or in times of worship, but also in the everyday, and most especially within my own questions, longing, and way of being. 

Awakening to the sacred that surrounds and is within is essential to the pilgrim’s journey, and the spirituality of the Christian Celts can serve as the pilgrim’s compass. To introduce you to Celtic Spirituality, I decided to go straight to the person who introduced it to me: spiritual director, teacher of spiritual formation, and pilgrimage guide, Tom Cashman. Below is a brief introductory interview with him about Celtic Spirituality, and I’ve also included resources from his class which I found helpful in my own discovery and application.

Next week my continued interview with Tom Cashman takes us to our first pilgrimage site, which just so happens to be a place of Celtic Pilgrimage: the Isle of Iona in Scotland. -Lacy

celtic-spirituality
What is Celtic Spirituality?

Celtic Spirituality is a strand of our Christian heritage that refers to a group of 4-11th CE churches that existed in Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, Isle of Man, and Galicia. Their somewhat alternative Christianity developed geographically and culturally separate from the church of Rome and thrived on a world-view and constellation of values that were somewhat different from that of the Roman church. The role of women in the church, our connection with the natural world, servant leadership, and mysticism are a few of those values that received more emphasis in the Celtic worldview than did their counterparts on the Continent.

Something I distinctly remember  from your class is the difference between the Celtic way of evangelism and the Roman way of evangelism. Could you describe some of the differences in the styles of evangelism and how those differences also reflected the differences between both groups’ approach to faith?

The Celtic monks brought the Gospel to other lands quite differently from the Roman tradition of evangelism. The monks believed that the Holy Spirit was already at work there ahead of them. They came in a non-confrontational way, inviting the non-believers to enter their small community, partaking of their hospitality, food, medicine and farming methods, and immersing them in the ethos of Christian Community. Only when they asked to join did the monks then baptize and teach. They reversed the Roman process which admitted persons to community only after they had already committed to Christ and were baptized.

What is the significance of Celtic Spirituality for Christians today?

The significance of Celtic Spirituality for today is much more than one of curiosity, historicity, or archeology.  The current ground-swell of interest is nothing less, I believe, than a move of the Holy Spirit that is bringing back this worldview and these values for a church that is in significant transition. The Celtic perspective is a profound gift for this transitional church that gropes its way blindly toward and through emergent communities that intuitively seem to think and act in Celtic Christian ways.

I also remember from the class that the Holy Spirit is really significant to Celtic Spirituality, and is often referred to as the “wild goose.” Tell me a bit about that, as well as how a Celtic perspective of the Holy Spirit can impact our experience of the Trinity today.

The origin of the Wild Goose as icon of the Holy Spirit is lost in the mists of time. But it conveys a sense of unpredictability, wildness and faithfulness. Their sense that the Holy Spirit also was the feminine aspect of God brings a certain balance to the Trinity and a corrective to our male-dominated Church which projects male domination even onto the Trinity itself. (Read more about the Wild Goose here.)

Obviously Celtic Spirituality is of great importance to you. When did you first discover Celtic Spirituality? How has it impacted and informed your faith?

In 1994 I went to Killarney, Ireland for an ITA conference. This was a spur-of-the-moment decision that turned out to be life-changing.  Celtic Spirituality was a strand of the conference which also included ecological and native wisdom themes. I “caught” the compelling mystique of another aspect of Christianity with those people and that place, and was asked repeatedly on my return to speak about this “Celtic Spirituality” people had been hearing of. Thus I became a student, teacher, writer, speaker and leader of workshops and retreats on this incredible subject.

This came during a great transition time in my life, and discovering our Celtic roots gave me a pathway back into finding my place within the Christian tradition. It also gave me a mission, and a method. I found that emulating the lives of the Celtic saints and rediscovering their worldview and values was transformative. And that is still so in my life today.

What does Celtic Spirituality have to do with pilgrimage, both personally and generally?

Unwittingly and in retrospect, I discovered that the 1994 ITA experience was in fact a pilgrimage. Without knowing it I was in search of the sacred as I traveled to Ireland.

A few years later I went on a pilgrimage led by Sr. Cintra Pemberton to Ireland along with 32 other pilgrims.  Meanwhile study showed me that pilgrimage was one of the great exploratory, spiritual growth – and sometimes penitential – experiences that Celtic Christians undertook as part of their spiritual practice. A variety of destinations and routes took on the cachet of sacred ritual.  Major destinations like Rome, Jerusalem, and a bit later Santiago de Compostela, Spain the site associated with St. James.  Lesser treks were to Lindisfarne (from Durham Cathedral) and to other monastic communities of Ireland and Scotland.

Pilgrimage became a way of life for many monastic evangelists who became the peregrini Christi, Wanderers for Christ, allowing a combination of intent and natural forces of tide, wind and weather to determine their ultimate destinations, allowing them to find “the place of my resurrection” the phrase used as they spoke and wrote of the place their pilgrimage would take them, ending in death.

The obvious metaphor/connection for all Christians is the pilgrimage of life, each of us traveling perhaps only a few miles, but through a variety of experiences, people met and connections made that shape our journey. Living with a pilgrim’s perspective changes, well, everything. It opens us to a wider range of spirituality, and enables us to move from day to day and week to week with expectation.

RESOURCES

The following are some resources from Tom’s Celtic Spirituality Class at The Seattle School:

  • Soulfaring by Cintra Pemberton
  • Celtic Daily Prayer from the Northumbria Community
  • The Celtic Way of Evangelism by George G. Hunter, III
  • Listening to the Heartbeat of God by J. Philip Newell

GO FURTHER…

Is Celtic spirituality new to you? What of Tom’s description of Celtic spirituality resonated with you?

ABOUT TOM

An Episcopal layman, Tom has been a spiritual director for over 25 years. Trained in the Jubilee Spiritual Direction program (Vancouver School of Theology 1986) he works primarily with clergy and those in the ordination path.   He has been a teacher and clergy coach since retiring in 2003 from a technology company in the “Silicon Rainforest” of Redmond WA.  Tom also has a degree in Applied Behavioral Science from LIOS (Leadership Institute of Seattle) 1994 specializing in consulting and leadership.

In the academic world, Tom has been on staff and an adjunct for the Pastoral Leadership Program at Seattle University (2003-08).  He retired in 2012 after 9 years as adjunct professor at The Seattle School for Theology & Psychology (formerly Mars Hill Graduate School) in Seattle’s Belltown since 2003, teaching Spiritual Formation and Celtic Spirituality.  He also taught at the School of Theology of the Episcopal Diocese in their College for Congregational Development (2009-2012) and serves on the Congregational Consulting Services team.

His passionate commitment to revisiting and reclaiming the values of Celtic Christian Spirituality is lived out by teaching, writing, speaking, and leading retreats and workshops in the Northwest, and pilgrimages in Ireland and the UK. Tom is married to Lin who also is a spiritual director and healer-practitioner of both Reiki and therapeutic touch.  He has three grown children, four grandchildren, and refreshes himself with fly-fishing, music and cooking.

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Hi! I’m Lacy—your guide here at A Sacred Journey and a lover of food, books, spirituality, growing and making things, far-off places and lovely spaces. More »

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