This past Sunday was the first week of our Spiritual Nourishment Series. In our first week, we did a UU version of Lectio Divina with Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem Kindness. I had a number of people who said they really enjoyed that and wanted to learn more. I’m really glad because it is also one of my favorite ways to consume poetry as a spiritual practice.
There are a number of different ways you can do Lectio Divina in a UU way, but what they all have in common is that the poem needs to be read at least three times (there are some versions that have it read 5 times). The way I like to do it is:
- 1st time: Read it just to get familiar with it
- 2nd time: Underline or consider certain words or phrases that stand out for you. Think about what they mean and the impact they are having on you.
- 3rd time: Read it just to feel it
If you want some other poems that you can use for this Spiritual practice, consider these:
- A Love Letter to My Worries From Inside My Body by Anna Goodman Herrick
- Making a Fist (also from Naomi Shihab Nye)
- The Fountain by Denise Levertov
- Bone by Mary Oliver
- The Guest House by Rumi
This week, we will be experimenting with body meditations–different ways of being in our body as a way of being in the here and now and also connecting beyond ourselves. I hope you will join us!