Transforming Through Spiritual Practice
HOLLY EARLESON
There have been many life changes for me over the past several years - getting married, leaving my home denomination, becoming a mom, and diving into the pool of doubt with my beliefs. Right now, though, the shift with how I read and view the Bible is standing out to me as it has been very impactful and has some redeeming qualities for me.
I wanted to share that this is my journey and how I’ve grown in this particular area. If you’ve come to a different or similar conclusion, that’s fantastic, but this is where I’ve been traveling. The important part is being in the arena, as Brene Brown calls it, doing the hard work.
I grew up in a faith tradition where the Bible was taken literally. I was taught and believed down to my core that the great flood happened and covered the whole earth and God told the Israelites to kill anyone in their way of conquering any land that He said was rightfully theirs. There seemed to be only one way to believe and think about the Bible and even how to live the christian life. I participated in Bible quizzing at my church and memorized many passages and could find a scripture quicker than most people.
After coming to Imago Dei, I became more aware of a variety of ways to experience scripture, one being through Lectio Divina which I encountered while being part of a Spiritual Formation Community. We met quarterly and each time explored a different spiritual practice. The session about scripture really seemed to capture my spirit as I found and still am finding that reading and studying the Bible feels familiar and almost like home to me - like a well-worn butt indent in a couch cushion.
Lectio Divina has Latin origins and means divine or sacred reading. It is a spiritual practice that is a way of meditating on scripture. In my Spiritual Formation Community, I learned about this and found through this that I could explore a Bible passage for myself. No one told me what to take away from the specific verses, but I could meet with God where I was with what I was holding in life right then. There was something, like I said earlier, redeeming about this practice - like I was coming home again. To me, it seemed almost magical to discover and glean something from the Bible on my own terms, without anyone telling me to think about it a particular way, just letting the Holy Spirit lead me. This reminds me of Heather’s message on Sunday about hearing the shepherd’s voice for ourselves.
Please know that Lectio Divina isn’t a huge time investment or an unattainable practice, but it is fluid enough to fit into any life and time frame.
I cannot tell you how refreshing it is for me to experience the Bible in this new way. It has been a true gift.
If you’d like to learn more about Lectio Divina, attached are some links about it. Also, I’d love to chat about it. My email is hollyearleson@imagodeichurch.org.
Holly is grateful to have found Imago Dei and to call it her church home. She enjoys being in nature whether it is going for a hike, running, playing outside with her two young kids, Kara and Eric, or simply sitting around the firepit with her husband, Jeff. She is very passionate about children’s spiritual development and leads the kids’ ministry here called Genesis.