This is a variation on Video Divina that also uses video and music. The images are taken from Les Miller’s Northern Light project. The music is Arvo Part’s Spiegel im Spiegel.
Prepare yourself for the experience by making sure you won’t be disturbed, having the best practical screen and sound for viewing (i.e. a computer or tv rather than a phone) The music is deliberately simple. It consists of a melody played over three repeating notes. Arvo Part composed these notes to evoke the Holy Trinity. Find the ten-minute video of images at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz7byuz0evQ
Gaze at the images as they pass in front of you. Where do you find the sacred in these images? How does the music also give you a sense of the sacred?
Listen to this excerpt from an interview with the author about Northern Light. He was asked, “What would you like your readers to know about this book?” He replied:
“Two things: Visio Divina and photography as prayer. I used a process rooted in Visio Divina for many of these prayers, reflections and photographs. Visio Divina is a way of contemplating the sacred in creation. You start by imagining a place that you know or a piece of art or the photos in this book. You contemplate the image and pay attention to what you see and feel. You rest with the image looking for ways in which the sacred can be encountered. Sometimes it helps to have some guidance at this point, so context about a place, painting or photo can be explored. Then you are asked to see how this encounter can change you or help you enter a deeper relationship with God.
The photos don’t just illustrate the prayer or reflection, they are ways of connecting with God themselves. Photography can be a prayer form. It is more than capturing a flower or a landscape. It is allowing creation to capture our hearts. A photograph that is taken with “eyes of the heart” brings us to wonder and to marvel at the beauty, intricacy and wisdom of creation. It can offer glimpses of the touch of the creator.” (Source: https://novalisseedsoffaith.com/2020/08/20/interview-with-les-miller-author-of-northern-light-a-canadian-prayer-book/)
If you are in a group, discuss how Visio Divina of creation can draw us closer to God. If you are alone, record these ideas in a journal.
Play back the video to find an image that particularly connects you with the sacred. Abide in this image for a while, resting in God’s presence.
As we conclude this Visio Divina, note any feelings that you are experiencing, perhaps peace or gratitude or wonder. Think about ways you can bring this encounter into your lived experience as a Christian.
