Falling in Love with God
This might seem odd to you. It certainly did to me! When I was called into the ministry of Spiritual Direction, I heard God say as clear as day, ”Start with Lectio Divina.” It had to be God speaking because I didn’t even like Lectio Divina at that time. I would’ve picked Centering Prayer or perhaps Ignatian Contemplation. I loved those.
I followed the call and started doing Lectio on a regular basis. In the process, I fell more and more deeply in love with God.
I began to share Lectio with a few small groups at churches. The people would say things like “why didn’t someone teach us this earlier?” These adults had gone to church their whole lives but had no idea they could have a conversation with God or that God would guide them through the things that were happening in their life. To be clear, I had no idea about this either, until I started receiving spiritual direction.
In Norvene Vest’s book, Gathered in the Word, Praying the Scriptures in Small Groups, she says, “Lectio’s design facilitates an encounter with the living God in such a way that we are gradually transformed into Christ’s own likeness. Lectio enables us to release the barriers and blind spots that separate us from God and that prevent us from being the person God continually calls each of us to be.”
Later in the book, she says, “the goal of Lectio is to help us incarnate a way of dialoguing with God about our specific life issues in such a way that transformation can occur through God’s work in our midst.”
That quote inspires me every time I read it. And I have found this ongoing transformation to be true in my life and in the lives of other people I’ve shared Lectio with. I would love to share this practice with you.
It would be absolutely lovely to have you join us for the Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina retreat. You will have an opportunity to dialogue with the God who loves you during Lectio Divina and to rest in God during centering prayer.


Author, Gwen Pickering tells us about herself: “Given the fact that I have ADHD, failed second grade, and struggled through the early years of school, it is a surprise even to me that I have a Masters degree in counseling. After many years of leading marriage retreats with my husband and teaching about relationships, I heard God call me to the ministry of Spiritual Direction. I was being called to switch from helping people with their relationships with one another to helping them grow in their relationship with the Divine. I answered the call and enrolled in a program to be a spiritual director at The Franciscan Spirituality Center in La Crosse WI from 2016 to 2019. Because Ignatian Spirituality, particularly the Exercises, have had a huge impact on my life, I also trained to lead the Ignatian Exercise through Sacred Ground in 2020. I am fascinated by the dance between spirituality, psychology and science – especially quantum physics and neuroscience. I have special interests in healing the unconscious, mindfulness, The Welcoming Prayer, Centering Prayer, Lectio Divina, the Ignatian Exercises, and the way our thoughts and emotions create our world. Through Benedictine and Ignatian spirituality, I have come to know…”