Mary C. Earle is an Episcopal priest, writer, and retreat leader whose ministry focuses on spiritual direction, contemplative prayer, and interfaith dialogue. In this illuminating paperback, she shows how the Benedictine spiritual practice of lectio divina can be used to enrich and deepen the lives of those suffering from serious, chronic, and terminal illness.
Earle explains the five stages of lectio divina — silence, reading, meditating, praying, and contemplating — in reference to reading the text of the body and discerning the movements of God in the daily rounds of dealing with pain, limitations, and vulnerabilities. We especially appreciated Earle's pragmatic suggestions for spiritually making the most out of exam rooms, checking the pulse, reading a scar, trips to the pharmacy, attention to food, regular medical tests, and dealing with time.
