Blog 16 | Transformation

The last text reading for transformation was different in the fact that it approached “lectio divina” not only as a reading for scripture but for poetry as well. At first I was a little critical when thinking of “lectio divina” being used for poetry, since its initial creation was for purposes of scripture. Although after applying the concept in class on Tuesday I realized the impact of using this method when reading any text. Corrigan had a good point when he said that we must treat “lectio divina” as a spiritual act to God, even when using it to read texts other than scripture. When you think about it, monks created “lectio divina” simply as practice of reading texts. Although it may seem sac-religious by using a method of reading scripture for regular texts, it is not in the respect that “lectio divina” is simply a method created by man. I feel if we started praying regular texts as scripture that that would be sac-religious because God ordains prayer, although in this case I feel this is not the case. McAloon in our last reading expressed his usage of “lectio divina” as a process that created a deeper self-awareness in him, as well as transformation. I feel these aspects should be the purpose of “lectio divina” when reading texts. In the last class to be honest I did not feel a transformation, I was able to relate and understand the text in a way I had never before. Each time of reading I heard something new. Each time reading I got a different feeling out of it. This is the way “lectio divina” affected me the most. It is a great process of “deep reading” because it makes you slow down and think. This slowing down is what makes all the difference. It is what helps the text in many cases serve to transform you. This is something that is rarely accomplished when speed-reading.