The Bible is only the beginning

  Have you ever read a really good book? One you put down at the end and say, "Wow, that was amazing!"? And it stays with you in your imagination? Now, imagine if you had actually been there. Examine every aspect of it. Every sight, sound, smell, feeling, emotion, impression. Imagine every perceptic at work. Suddenly the book doesn't quite do it justice now does it? Like a photograph of a beautiful landscape, or a Stephen King novel, made into a movie. It just is never quite as good as the original work.
  Well, the Bible is kind of like that.
You have stories. Stories of things that happened a long time ago. And in those stories you have messages. Spiritual messages that are meant to change our understanding and our reality. But they are just words on pages. Sure, they are good stories (most of them anyway). And if you are clever, you might sort out the messages and the metaphors, and the spiritual guidances that are hidden in them. Hidden in plain sight... hidden in words. But words try to convey ideas. Poorly, I might add. But if you could only just BE THERE...
  Lectio Divina is a practice of prayer that allows us to immerse ourselves in in these stories. To place us there, in the midst of it all. To EXPERIENCE the story first hand! We become one with the stories. A participant, rather than a spectator, separated by time and words. And, in doing so, we increase our understanding and knowledge of God.
 So if you think God is only the things that are written on the pages of the Bible, try being a part of the story. Try experiencing what Adam, or Noah, or Abraham, or David, or Mary or Jesus experienced. Try living it from their perspective, their reality. It is certain to change yours.