A couple years ago, I stumbled across the text of Jonathan Edwards’ famous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” The title says it all. The sermon’s primary aim was to convince people of the horrors of Hell and to use this fear to spur them to repentance. I have to admit that … Continue reading Missing the Mark (or, Talking about Sin)
It’s been a few weeks now since I looked a practice rooted in scripture reading, so I decided this week to look at one of the other traditions commonly known as lectio divina, or sacred reading. Whereas a few weeks ago I explored devotional reading focused on different ways scripture can speak to us, this … Continue reading Lectio Divina (Gospel Contemplation)
When challenged by a legal expert about what was most important about the Law, Jesus famously answered: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind ... and love your neighbour as yourself” (Mt 22.37-39). It’s a wonderfully simple response. But this simplicity is deceptive.
Christian daily prayer services, known as offices, developed into their canonical form with the rise of monastic daily cycles of prayer, known as the Hours.
Lectio Divina, or 'sacred reading,' is the deliberate devotional reading of Scripture for personal insight and communion with God. While there are many variations of this practice, this week's practice focused on exploring different layers of meaning within the text.
Matthew Root 