During the Lectio Divina process, each participant will read a section out loud while the others engage in deep listening, paying attention to not only the words being read, but also the way in which the reader has selected to read and interpret them. After everyone has read, participants will have an opportunity to respond with one word to what they heard and how they feel. If the length of the poem and time allow, participants will repeat this process. After one or two rounds of reading, pre-selected participants will be asked to re-read out loud a specific section of the poem that highlights some of the author’s central ideas or feelings. At the end of these readings, each participant will be asked to share her or his response to the readings (their connections to, for example, history, contemporary events, Bloomington communities, and/or social justice).
The purpose of the Deep Dialogue project using Lectio Divina is to create sustainable dialogue between members of the Bloomington community through literature. The Lectio Divina process is designed to help participants contemplate their own thoughts, emotions, and responses to texts. In the case of Deep Dialogue, these texts focus on race, ethnicity, oppression, and marginalization.