Contemplation in Nature: Sensio Divina and Listening to God Through Creation

If you’ve ever had the sense that God was getting your attention through the natural world, then the next question is how to stay with that moment well. Whatever the moment is about to be ... my first advice is NOT to take a photo of it. That bursts the 'moment' bubble.

And, if you're a bit more practised than that, don't immediately label it (that's a sunset, or that's achillea millefolium, as can happen in my head). Don't grab its surface meaning or jump to any fast interpretation. Instead, you might practice an encounter with the Divine; a contemplation in nature.

In an earlier post, I explored signs, coincidence, and the question of whether God speaks through nature. This practice is a follow-on from that. It offers a more structured way (one of many, stay tuned) of encountering the Spirit through a place, creature, object, or natural phenomenon, not simply noticing it, but receiving it contemplatively as part of the book of creation.

I call this contemplation in nature, Sensio Divina.

You might have heard of the sacred text version, a long-practised, contemplative prayer-with-scripture exercise called Lectio Divina (divine reading). Sensio Divina is a related practice of contemplation in nature, a way of discerning or encountering God through creation with attention, sense, imagination and soul. In the moment, you're listening. Participating.

This requires some practice, so don’t expect to carry out all the sub-stages the first time – let the notes below get you going in the right direction and refer to them only if you need a pointer. Try the exercise more than once, using the first time as a learning process rather than fully engaging at a deeper level.

If you use this, I’d be very interested to hear your response when using it and suggestions for improvement or adaptation in the comments below.

Sensio Divina

Literally ‘Divine sensing’, a contemplative meditation to connect and dialogue with Divine presence in a place, object or natural phenomenon (Jer 23:24) and come to a deeper understanding of God through nature (Rom 1:20).

Reading, contemplatively and prayerfully, God’s presence in the Book of Creation has been practised informally for as long as we’ve walked on the earth. Many of the psalms, for example, come from someone deeply connected with God in creation.

Preparation Stage.

• Take a number of mindful breaths and come to the present moment.

• Let unnecessary tension leave the body.

• During what follows, allow distractions to arise and fall.

• Carry out the exercise with lightness and wonder and move at your own pace through the stages.

• Approach and begin with humility ...

Sensing Stage

• Sense the overview (rather than the detail) to begin with. Be inquisitive, use all your senses not just your thinking.

• Notice first impressions.

• Sense the present state, get the big picture objectively with no analysis.

• Begin to sense more carefully from the overview to the detail.

• Take more time, allow attention and fascination to rest where it wants, savour the detail.

• Using deeper senses, allow intuition and consciousness of any detectable energy to arise.

• Notice any feelings and emotions that are evoked, but don’t fall into analysis.

Imagination Stage

• Return to the overview and this time use your imagination, creativity, analysis and narrative skills.

• Image the process and succession that led to this point in time. Project into the future.

• Imagine the wider ecosystem and the interactions between the elements.

• Bring your focus from overview to detail.

• Imagine yourself not as observer but as participant.

• Take a feeling or thought or idea into contemplation.

• Listen with patience and open receptivity – still your thinking.

• Be aware of any dialogue that may be initiated. What is being said to you?

Spiritual Stage

• Allow God to speak and / or experience God’s presence.

• What is being said to you?

• Let your heart speak in response.

• Rest in God’s presence and embrace.

• Return to earlier stages if you feel so led.

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You may come away with a word, an image, a feeling, a memory, a question, or simply a deeper stillness. You may also feel that very little happened. It's not an easy exercise. That is fine. This is not a technique for manufacturing spiritual experiences, but a way of becoming more available to God’s presence in the natural world.

It can help to write a few notes afterwards:

• What drew my attention?

• What did I sense or feel?

• What stayed with me?

• Was there any invitation, consolation, challenge, or deepening of prayer?

If you try this practice more than once, patterns may begin to emerge over time. And if something significant, confusing, or needlingly persistent arises, spiritual direction can be a good place to explore it more carefully.