Visio Divina: A Practice of Sacred Seeing
Friday, June 13, 2025
In the way that lectio divina invites us to “chew” on a sacred text, allowing us to receive its flavor and wisdom, visio divina is a contemplative practice of receiving God’s presence through what we see. Spiritual teacher Christine Valters Painter writes:
In visio divina, we move our awareness into our hearts and let our vision arise from this place of integration rather than analysis, and receptivity rather than grasping after the things we desire. Our intention is to see things from a new perspective, but the paradox is that this longing requires us to relinquish our usual ways of relating to the world. [1]
Paintner suggests taking a few moments of silence to center in our bodies, becoming present to the Spirit.
Visio divina means sacred seeing and is essentially an application of the rhythms of lectio to a prayer of “gazing.” Gazing is looking upon something with the eyes of the heart. It is not a hard or penetrating stare but a soft receptive way of being with an image….
From this heart-centered place, slowly open your eyes and cast a gentle gaze upon your photo [or image] with the eyes of your heart. Take a few moments to allow your eyes to wander over the whole landscape of the image, exploring all of its shapes, colors, contours, details, and symbols. Allow yourself to simply be present to the details of this image.
Gradually notice if there is a place on the photo where your eye is being invited to rest…. What is the place on the image calling to you—is it a symbol, color, or expression? Take a few moments to simply be present to this in a gentle way….
Slowly begin to notice if an invitation begins to emerge from these memories, feelings, and images moving in you. In the concrete circumstances of your life right now, what awareness or action is God calling you to? What is my invitation in this moment of my life? How am I being called to respond?…
As you become more comfortable with praying in this way and allowing visual elements to be a “text” for prayer, you can begin to bring this spirit of visio divina with you even as you are out walking.… As you receive your images, pay attention to moments that seem to shimmer and make space within your heart to be with whatever feelings or memories these stir, trusting that God is at work in the process. Over time, you might discover that there is an invitation being offered to you in this time of slowing down and deepening your way of seeing in the world….
Our commitment to visio divina and seeing the world as a sacred text, and everything as worthy of our attention and presence, rather than divided between what is “ugly” and “beautiful,” or as a mere imitation of our own expectations, means that we might begin to see this as true within our own hearts as well. [2]
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John Chaffee 5 On Friday
1.
“A happiness that is sought for ourselves alone can never be found: for a happiness that is diminished by being shared is not big enough to make us happy. There is a false and momentary happiness in self-satisfaction, but it always leads to sorrow because it narrows and deadens our spirit. True happiness is found in unselfish love, a love which increases in proportion as it is shared. There is no end to the sharing of love, and, therefore, the potential happiness of such love is without limit.”
– Thomas Merton in No Man is an Island
This was one of the quotes that we read at our wedding. It is the opening paragraph in the first chapter of No Man is an Island, titled “Love Can Only Be Kept by Being Given Away.”
I don’t have much to comment on this. Merton was such a master with words, and I believe he was one of the great luminaries of the 20th century.
Still, I’ll give it a shot.
Love and happiness seem intertwined, and yet, love must be the primary ground out of which happiness grows. If happiness is the ground of love, then when things are not “happy,” love might diminish. However, if love is viewed as a virtue to be cultivated and nurtured, then happiness seems better able to flourish.
All of this flies in the face of the scarcity mindset or the fearful mindset that leads us to isolate our love or happiness. And, as Merton teaches us, any love or happiness that cannot be shared must not be true.
2.
“Do whatever awakens you to greater love.”
– Teresa of Avila in Interior Castle
This is one of the most profound Christian ethical principles I have ever encountered.
I recognize that more conservative individuals might prefer a more black-and-white moral framework, and I acknowledge that more liberal individuals might want to focus on justice.
However, I like to think this line from Teresa of Ávila transcends and encompasses both conservative and liberal frameworks.
If God is love, and everything is about love, then it makes sense that we ought to only partake in the activities that help us to cultivate more love. What is interesting to me is that Teresa of Avila does not tell her sisters in the convent exactly what to do. Instead, she trusts them to their own consciences and invites them to take responsibility for their own activities.
3.
“The human heart is no small thing, for it can embrace so much.”
– Origen of Alexandria, 2nd-3rd Century Early Church Father
There is a spaciousness to what it means to be human. Consider how we can grow and expand throughout our lives as we experience more of life and learn lessons along the way.
The human heart is roughly the size of a fist and probably weighs only a few pounds. However, this line from Origen is more poetic than anything else. It speaks to the core of a human being, the center of what it means to be alive.
Yes, the human heart can embrace so much, but that does not mean that it always does.
No.
We can turn away from embracing others. We can close ourselves off and shelter ourselves behind 9-foot walls of cynicism, skepticism, and fear.
Yes, the human heart can embrace much. And for that reason, it is perhaps more resilient than we realize.
4.
“To behold God in all things is to live in complete joy.”
– Julian of Norwich in The Revelations of Divine Love
There is one stage of spiritual formation that earnestly wishes to see God. A person in this first stage can be filled with fervor and a desire to see the Divine. Ultimately, this is a good and noble thing.
However,
There is another stage of spiritual formation where one has learned to see God in all things and all things in God. This is only possible if someone has first passed through the first stage of even wanting to see God at all. The good news is that this second stage is possible for the rest of us, and not just for the spiritually elite (like Julian of Norwich).
5.
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
The older I get, the more I have come to realize that the classical virtues and habits of mature Christianity are universally appreciated and desired. Yes, some might mock and make fun of the things in this passage from Colossians, considering them quaint or for a bygone era.
The only thing is that the world is not broken and fractured by people practicing these virtuous habits. The world is instead broken and fractured by people NOT doing them.
Ultimately, the things said above by St. Paul are the very things that make the world worth living in.
