Ryan Dunn explores Lectio Divina, guiding you through this ancient practice for deeper spiritual reflection and everyday awareness.
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Compass Podcast host Ryan Dunn walks us through Lectio Divina—meaning “divine reading”—an ancient contemplative practice that goes beyond simply reading sacred texts. Together, we’ll learn how to gently engage with scripture, reflect on what stands out to us, and respond through prayer and contemplation. And it’s not just about reading; we’ll discover how this approach can be applied to music, art, and even poetry, opening our hearts to the sacred everywhere we look.
(00:00) Introduction to Lectio Divina
(05:10) Guided walkthrough with Romans 8:6-11
(10:49) Exploring alternative contemplative practices
(13:04) Where to find show notes and additional episodes
Don’t miss Rev. Ryan Dunn’s practical tips on improvising spiritual practices for daily life, and listen for highlights on using music, imagery, and fiction books as sources for divine connection.
Episode Notes
Ryan talked about the podcast "Harry Potter and the Sacred Text". Episode one includes a description of Lectio Divina.
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This episode posted on March 18, 2026
Episode Transcript:
Ryan Dunn:
It's never not a good time to add some spiritual practices to our lives, whether it's Lent or the dog days of summer. And so that's what we're going to attempt to do on this episode of Compass. Welcome to Compass, finding spirituality in the everyday. My name is Ryan Dunn. Let's jump right in and learn about an ancient contemplative spiritual practice that can help us reflect a little bit more deeply and open an awareness to the presence of the divine in our daily lives, which is what we're all about on Compass. We're going to walk through the practice of Lectio Divina. Lectio Divina simply means divine reading. It's a way of interacting with sacred texts that invite us into deep reflection and prayer.
Ryan Dunn:
Gregory of Nyssa, who lived about 330 to 395 CE, adapted the practice to Christian spiritual groups. And then Benedict of Nursia, who lived about 480 to 547 CE, helped to popularize the practice through its use in Benedictine monastic communities. What is Lectio Divina? Well, simply put, it's a way of developing a closer relationship with God by reflecting prayerfully on holy words. In Lectio Divina, the chosen spiritual text is read several times, giving an opportunity for us to think deeply about it and then to respond thoughtfully to what we've heard or read. When we practice Lectio Divina, we can imagine that we're actually participating in the text, whether that be through being a witness of the story— so maybe we have a gospel story, Jesus in action, and we're there looking at it— or simply by hearing something that may in this case be just for us. There are generally 4 movements to Lectio Divina. The first one is Lectio. That's reading the Bible passage gently and slowly several times.
Ryan Dunn:
The passage itself is not really as important as savoring of each portion of the reading. We're constantly listening for the word or phrase that somehow speaks to us. Think about reading the text like running your hand over a piece of wood. What pricks you? Where is the splinter that sticks out to you? Or where is it particularly smooth and your hand goes quickly? Or maybe you want to think about it this way: what words or phrases shimmer for you, or glimmer, or glisten in your mind's eye? You read this with your own life and your own choices in mind. Then the second movement is called meditatio. This is reflecting on the passage and thinking about how it applies to your own life. This is considered to be a very personal reading of the scripture and then a very personal application of the scripture. And the key question to kind of keep in mind in this second movement, in the meditatio movement, is why do you think that the word or phrase was sticking out to you today? Why is this at the forefront of your attention? The third movement is called oratio.
Ryan Dunn:
It's responding to the passage by opening our heart to God. This opening can take the form of prayer, so you might choose to journal through this time or simply let yourself move into a prayerful conversation with God in light of what you've experienced through the first two movements. I get a sense that this might be the movement that provokes anxiety because we feel like we need to be active in some way. Release that, okay? Just let yourself respond in some way, shape, or form. Finally, there's contemplatio, a time of simply being with God without prayer or agenda. This is a good time to listen for any impression or to listen for God's small, still voice. Most yoga practices end with a time of corpse pose. Contemplatio is the corpse pose moment of this practice.
Ryan Dunn:
Just rest. Take a few moments. Don't plan. Don't feel like you need to accomplish something during this time. Just let yourself be and maybe just bask in the sense of divine presence. You are in holy space, and you're free to hold on to that holy space for a moment. Father Thomas Keating described that these four stages of Lectio Divina as compass points around a circle, with the Holy Spirit moving seamlessly between them. These 4 points, though, are not hard and fast rules, as we'll learn through both doing this practice and then through exploring some alternative forms of the practice.
Ryan Dunn:
It's often useful to improvise. In fact, just like in music or in comedy, improvisation leads towards some deep, impactful moments. So let yourself go there if you feel so led. All right, I'm going to lead us through a passage applying the 4 movements of Lectio Divina, and One of the recommended readings for this weekend is Romans 8:6-11. Let me read it for you, and this time through we're reading it just to hear. There's no heavy work to do here, just hear the words of this sacred text. This is again Romans 8:6-11. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
Ryan Dunn:
For this reason, the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot. And those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh. You are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, then the body is dead because of sin.
Ryan Dunn:
The Spirit is life because of righteousness. In the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead, dwells in you. He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. Okay, I'm gonna take a moment to read again, and this time deliberately, very slowly. As I read it again this time, the invitation for you is to listen for the word or phrase that is striking you today. What shimmers? What pricks you? As we read this. Again, this is Romans 8, verses 6 through 11. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
Ryan Dunn:
For this reason, the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, Indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, then the body is dead because of sin; the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through His Spirit that dwells in you. It's time to reflect. This is the meditatio time.
Ryan Dunn:
I'm actually going to read this passage again, offering you another opportunity to reflect on what has stood out to you, but also to reflect on why this phrase or why these words are pricking you or shimmering in your mind's eye today. Again, Romans 8:6-11: To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason, the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot. And those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh. You are in the Spirit since the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Ryan Dunn:
Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, then the body is dead because of sin. The Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. As we move into the third movement of Lectio Divina, the Oratio time, it's time for you to respond in some way, whether through prayer, journaling, maybe drawing or singing. Maybe you want to pause here on this podcast and just do your own thing. So I'll be back in 10 seconds But again, you may want to hit pause and just allow yourself some time to contemplate. Okay, once you've concluded the oratio time, it's time to rest in contemplatio.
Ryan Dunn:
Listen for that voice of the divine. Take time to breathe without agenda. Right now, rest is the thing. I'm going to get out of the way again, and I'll come back in about 10 seconds. Again, you may want to hit pause and take the time that you need, but I'll come back again in about 10 seconds to talk about other forms of Lectio. Let's talk about a few alternative forms of Lectio. Lectio is merely an invitation to listen for the divine through the ears of your heart, and there are so many ways to engage in that. As a Christian, I do believe that scripture is often the most direct way to encounter God's story, and to get a look or glimpse or get a feel for God's action in the world.
Ryan Dunn:
But it's not exclusive. I often get a sense of God's leading through music as it's a powerful communal activity. It's sometimes sacred songs or hymns are useful. Sometimes singing together is useful. But I'll also admit that the mundane music that we encounter daily can also offer an opening to holy moments. I remember going on a long run several years ago with a backing track of classic rock songs, and Jackson Browne's The Pretender struck me. As I relistened to the words, I was struck by the struggle that this song communicated. It was speaking to my own life about the priorities and where true contentment lies.
Ryan Dunn:
And maybe, as Browne puts it, The struggle for the legal tender was not the thing that led to contentment. That's what I was struggling with at the time. This contemplative exercise was a form of lectio, and you could easily apply the four movements to a song. You can also apply the four movements to artwork or to photos. This is sometimes referred to as visio divina. The use of icons is prevalent in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Contemplating a holy image reflects the movements of Lectio. So we can look at an image and reflect on what stands out to us and why we might be drawn to that on this particular day.
Ryan Dunn:
And poetry works with Lectio as well, even, even full fiction books. There is a podcast called Harry Potter and the Sacred Texts where they often apply Lectio Divina to the Harry Potter books. In fact, they provide a description of Lectio Divina in their first episode. I'll link that in the episode notes. And speaking of episode notes, you can find those and more at umc.org/compass. Other episodes that you may want to explore while you're there include Contemplation is Resistance. That's episode 167. It's about how contemplative exercises like 'Lexio Divina' help us resist the sheer overwhelm of the current age.
Ryan Dunn:
Episode 157, 'Soulful Practices for Healing and Belonging,' is a good one too. It explores how contemplative spiritual practices draw us together in community. If you've never hit the subscribe button or dropped a rating and review on Compass, now is the time. Hit the like button, hit subscribe, or use your podcast listening app to leave a review about what you appreciate about The Compass Podcast. This has been a production of United Methodist Communications. We release episodes every 2 weeks. I'm Ryan Dunn, and I'll be back with you then. In the meantime, peace.
