Listening to The Word

Eugene Peterson advocates lectio divina, a process of listening to God's Word as poetry, allowing it to seep into our souls.

He rightly points out that we can slip into Bible study as an autopsy on a dead thing, dissecting and probing to find out how the mechanics work.

I loved this section:

"In the last class I taught at Regent, a young woman came up to me and was very irritated.

"Dr. Peterson," she said, "three times during the lecture you did not say anything for twenty seconds. I know because I timed you. I'm from Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, teachers go: Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! I want my money's worth."

We're going to have people like that, people who want very polished and efficient teaching. But when I see people in my congregation taking notes during the sermon, I stop and say, "Put your pencils away. I want you to listen. Listen to the Word of God. It's not something for you to figure out; it's something for you to respond to."

The whole interview is good. What can you do today to listen to the living Word, and help others do so also? It might mean less polish, more depth, more effectiveness.