the latest book i have been sent is divine intervention by tony jones (thanks tony). the subtitle sums the book up – encountering god through the ancient practice of lectio divina.

the good news is it’s another easy read, just over 100 pages or so. lectio divina means divine reading. it is a devotional way of reading the scriptures that seems to be increasing in popularity. it’s very simple – and to be honest you could easily get into it from reading an article or chapter in a book. the way it works is that you select a short passage of scripture, say a psalm. then there are 4 stages to the process –
1. reading – just read the passage over slowly a few times
2. meditate – listen or look for a phrase that stands out or lights up and chew it over
3. prayer – talk to god using the phrase as a kick off point
4. contemplate – settle into silence and become aware of just being in god’s presence contemplating god’s love

a chapter in tune in chill out was what got me using lectio divina. but if you’ve not come across it this is a good introduction with a chapter on each of the four phases as well as introductory chapters on practices, the bible and background to lectio. it ends with some suggested passages to get started with.

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