Changed imperceptibly through quietness and the unknown

This is the second time that I've done the Lectio Divina as a personal devotion. Each has been on Psalm 23:1-3. I've been kind of blazing my own path with it. I read the scripture slowly into a voice recorder trying to pause deliberately at commas and periods. I do this three or four times into the recorder with a pregnant pause between each reading. I then listen to the multiple readings without looking at the Bible. Today I must have listened to the verses eight times or more. I then took five minutes using a sand timer to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to me.

I have to admit that I didn't approach today's quiet time with enthusiasm. I've felt a distance with the Lord lately and Lectio Divina just didn't seem attractive. It didn't occur to me to start with prayer; I think I approached it simply as another task that needed to be done. There are four steps which I found better to re-order. The first is the reading of the scripture. I mentioned the change I made there, above. I like the voice recorder element. It changes it from comprehension being a cerebral process to one that uses auditory sensation to paint a different picture. Then rather than speaking to God about the scripture, I went silent and meditative for him to speak to me. I was disappointed because it seemed lifeless. It didn't feel like I was getting much from the Psalm because it has become such a cliche, but then there was the Word. The impression I received was that this time wasn't necessarily about cognitive experiences, but I had asked to be changed in these moments and God was doing just that in subtly, quietness, and the unknown.

The last part was to ask God how this is supposed to impact my call. I didn't do much with this.