A Six-Step Practice for Prayerful Meditation
How to be present through the study of words and pictures
This week’s episode was all about How to Walk into January Like a Soul Minimalist and I shared a (hopefully by now) familiar series of movements to enter January gently: Name your January posture, create space, ask what needs your attention, choose your absence, plan your presence.
You can listen to it right here if you want me to walk you through it.
Today we’ll expand that fifth movement “plan your presence” through a six-step practice for prayerful meditation. Let’s go!
When we think of study, what may come to mind is the study of books, Scripture, history, or research. We pour over words written by professors, historians, poets, and doctors of medicine, ideas, and the church. There’s great value in reading the words written down and thought through, placed and formed into sentences, paragraphs, and books. As a writer, I’m glad we all read books.
Sometime over the last decade, I learned about the practice of Lectio Divina. The words are Latin and they literally mean “divine reading.” The practice is defined as “a traditional Benedictine practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God's Word.”1
This is a contemplative and immersive way of reading, the roots of which date back to the 6th Century. The idea of Lectio Divina is more about contemplation and listening than about trying to figure out meaning. You might say it’s less about studying Scripture and more about allowing Scripture to study you.
But there is another kind of reading that doesn’t require written or spoken language, and that’s the study of pictures, images, icons, and art. Sometimes, when words feel difficult to follow, when books and language wear me all the way out, I find relief and comfort in knowing that there is more than one kind of study that counts.
If Lectio Divina is a type of praying with the ears of your heart, then it’s sibling practice, Visio Divina is a type of praying with the eyes of your heart.
(At the bottom of this post I’ll share six simple steps to follow if you would like to try it out.)
If you’ve never heard of either one of these practices and your hand is hovering over the unsubscribe button, hang with me!
I’m no expert in Iconography (though I’ve learned a lot from my Orthodox friends for whom the use of icons is a beloved part of their faith tradition) but I have, in recent years, found a few favorites icons, images, and art with which to pray.
I dare you to scroll slowly.
I’ll leave these images here without much commentary. Perhaps there’s something for you in one of them.
I’ll also invite you to call to mind paintings, photographs, images, or icons that have stirred you up, invited you in, or brought you some sort of peace or curiosity recently. What if you lingered with the image? What if you allowed it to inspire you or even mess you up? Are you willing to be disrupted by color, pictures, or wordless ideas?
Here are three resources for further reading if you prefer words for now:
Behold the Beauty of the Lord: Praying With Icons by Henri Nouwen
The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming by Henri Nouwen
The Modern Saints: Portraits and Reflections on the Saints compiled by Gracie Morbitzer
I’ll share that six-step practice for prayerful meditation below, but first here’s why all of this has come to mind in the first place: