Thursday, Fourth Week of Lent

Spiritual Reading Helps Us Listen to God

"You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf.  Yet you refuse to come to me to have life."  John 5:39-40

One of my spiritual mentors describes scripture as "God's love letter to the people that God loves."  If that is true, then when I sit down to read scripture, I am wise to prepare my heart as well as my mind. Reading with the heart, emotions begin to stir, and God's message pours into and throughout my inner being, massaging my soul.

Do you remember what it is like to go to the mail box and discover a letter in a "non-business" sized envelope, with your  name and address written by hand?   Most of us over the age of 50 can remember that feeling.  It was wonderful!

Furthermore, if the return address or the nature of the writing revealed that the sender was one of our beloved people, we read it differently.  We opened the envelope with the expectation of the heart -- that no matter what "information" the letter contained, the pages and the writing literally connected us with our beloved in a very real way.

I can remember reading and rereading the letters from my beloved.   I would often read between the lines, wondering if that question or this turn of phrase meant more than what first met my eye.  The most precious letters have been kept in a place where I can still open them and appreciate not only the words but also the fact that my beloved took the time so regularly to write and send proof that I was on his heart.  I heard his message loud and clear, even though I rarely heard his voice.

I don't remember all the details contained in those letters.  However I can readily bring to mind and heart that amazing feeling of knowing beyond all doubt that the sender was saying "I love you.  I am yours.  Will you be mine?"  In many ways those letters were pivotal in the way our relationship developed, despite the distance that separated us.

If you have similar memories of receiving letters from your beloved, then you can see the beauty of my mentor's description of scripture as God's love letter to you and me.  You can't help but understand, then, that reading scripture is at one level a mental experience; but is more profoundly an emotional and ultimately a deeply spiritual activity.

The mind perceives the words, the emotions are activated and we are then moved closer to God who inspires us and guides us with wisdom of the Spirit.

 

When you read scripture, what happens when you see it as reading a letter from God telling you everything God wants to tell you about God's love for you and all God's people?