Lectio Divina

He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
Luke 24

I don’t want to talk about you
like you’re not in the room.
Misty Edwards

Prayer

Like an alarm
going off
at some
scheduled
future

my autopilot self
assumes
you will grow loud
when I need you
when you need me.

No wonder
I wonder
underneath
the noise of
daily life

where you are.

Today
I hear the
quiet invitation.

Revelation
is not a mountaintop.

It is stillness
in the valley
of ordinary life.

You do not wait at a finish line.
You are all along this winding road.

Like Cleopas
talking about Jesus to Jesus
on the way to Emmaus,
my Sunday morning rituals
miss the point.

Oh to be at the table with you long enough
for my eyes to be opened as his.

Come Holy Spirit.

Blessing

Dear Friend

May the eyes of our hearts be opened.
May we know the joy of Brother Lawrence.
May we live in the presence of God.

In the Name of the One Who Knocks
Amen

Lectio Divina

Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
Jesus, Matthew 10

The true lover
lives only
to love the beloved.
Li-Young Lee

Prayer

This morning
I followed the path
of birds, disappearing
into the sky.

For a moment, I traced
their arc and dance
until there was only
the openness they entered.

Maybe this
is how you lead.

Not with linear certainty
but invitation.

Teach me courage
to follow…

To release what is too small.
To trade fear for wonder.

And when my steps trace
the very edge of all I know

may I find you
already there

waiting, in Hagar’s wilderness
addressing me by name.

Oh
God who sees
God who leads

I can hear you

Blessing

Dear friend

May you discover the strange grace
on the other side of surrender.

May you be free from the burden
of having to possess your own life.

May the cross you bear
be the cost of relinquishing
your false self.

All of life is an internship
in the school of unconditioned love.

We are gonna be alright.

In the Name of the One
Who Proclaimed Good News

Amen

Lectio Divina

I have loved you
with an everlasting love
Jeremiah 31

Joy does not simply happen to us.
We have to choose joy
and keep choosing it every day.
Henri Nouwen

Prayer

Before there was achievement
There was breath

Before there were goals
There was wonder

Before there were plans
There was creation singing

The birds do not hurry
The trees do not compare

This morning does not apologize
for arriving slowly

Thank you Lord

Today is not a problem to solve
But a gift to receive

Blessing

Dear Friend

May you notice and receive
what has not been earned

May you move through the day
with open hands

In every meal, every conversation,
may you have the wisdom to pause
and give thanks

In the Name of the One
Who dined and dwelled among us
Amen

Lectio Divina

All my friends are finding new beliefs
and I am finding it harder and harder to keep track
of the new gods and the new loves
and the old gods and the old loves
Christian Wiman

Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
1 John 5:21

Prayer

Lord

I am finding
with every mountain I climb
there is but one summit

That thin line
upon the heights
where Heaven and Earth meet

It is all
a single
earned
confession

I am not god
I am human

Blessed
Invited

to love
and receive
in ways
more generous
than before

Look
another mountain
rises before me

I’m learning now
to stop romanticizing
and start enjoying
the path beneath

One step
then another

Kindness
Mercy
Praise

Here I am, Lord

Blessing

Dear Friend

Whatever you hold tightly this morning,
may you learn to see it with new eyes.

May all things become
an arena to practice
your humanity
for all our days
are but an internship
in the school of love.

May you reflect
the kindness of God
everywhere you already are.

May you enjoy
the presence of God
everywhere you already are

In the Name of Christ
The One Who Conquered Death
The One Who Prayed for His Crucifiers
The One Who Sustains Us
The One Who Taught Us to Pray

Amen

Lectio Divina

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Romans 12

I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire
in all that I am doing.
Thomas Merton

Prayer

Lord

Morning pulls at me
from every direction

Even before
the little ones
call my name

Return me
to the quiet center

Communion
and the loving gaze

May my love be pure
Unvarnished
Without need to be seen

May passion be born of daily breath

Grace received
Gratitude returned
All in joyful union

Draw me close

Blessing

Dear Friend

When I was young, I burned passionately for God. I also longed to be seen, admired by the ones I held in high esteem. That adolescent child is finally now a tired middle aged man! The voices I once strained to impress grow quieter each year. Praise be to God.

And yet, something holy still remains. The same passion now longs to be transmuted into a generous presence offered to those God has placed before me.

I pray God reigns in us this day.

May our love ask for little in return.
May we offer our attentiveness freely.
May we receive the grace of stillness.
May we enjoy the nearness of God.

In the Name of the One
Who Lifts Our Eyes

Amen

Lectio Divina

If you love me, show it by doing what I’ve told you. I will talk to the Father, and he’ll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth.
John 14:16-17, MSG

Taking the easy yoke is to lay aside your projects or my projects, which are crushing — this is where leaders come under intolerable pressure. It is because they are carrying their projects; they have presumed to take God’s projects and made them their projects.
Dallas Willard

Prayer

This morning
I woke up slow
and I thought of you

As the smile
broke across my face

I thought of younger days
when I would ask
you favors

Now
breathing through
a fortieth year
around the sun

I am
at rest

Your loving gaze
your friendship
is enough

Let me put my shoes on
and let’s go
on our morning walk

Blessing

Dear Friend

On this Pentecost Day

May the Spirit of God
be less of an abstraction
more of a companion.

May you hear her voice
and smile.

May it guide you to Shalom.

In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Amen

Lectio Divina

Martha. Martha.
You are worried and upset about many things.
But few things are needed
or indeed, only one.
Jesus

To pay attention,
this is our endless and proper work.
Mary Oliver

Prayer

Outside,
cicadas fill the dark
with song.

The kitchen light
still burns above the sink.

I think of Mary
remaining in the room
as Martha moves on to the next.

My hands rest quietly
on the table.

And for a moment,
I stop reaching past
Your presence
already here.

For once,
I let the day remain unfinished.

Blessing

Dear friend

We can do the dishes
in order to move on to the next task.

Or we can do the dishes
to do the dishes
in the Presence of God
with gladness.

Perhaps this
is the mystery
of joy…

Every moment is an invitation
to be at the feet of Christ.

May you stumble into that sacred gift.
Many times, each day,
all the days of your life.

May your shoulders lower.
May your breath deepen.

May Christ dwell richly in your heart.

In the Name of the One, Who said

Mary has chosen what is better.

Amen.

Lectio Divina

Give us this day our daily bread
Matthew 6

Prayer

Lord
there are days
when the mind runs

unsettled
in ambiguity
seeking clarity,
resolution.

And yet
beneath it all

morning light still gathers
slowly across the kitchen table

coffee steams
between my hands

the trees quietly sway
without needing
answers.

God
teach me.

Not to abandon
this moment
for another.

If peace is possible
here, let me receive it
small and honest.

Each breath
each meal
is mercy poured out.

Though I walk through shadows
I do not walk alone.

Blessing

Dear Friend

Blessed are you
when you walk gently
within the discomforts of unknowing.

God’s grace is not waiting
on the other side of clarity.

It has already arrived
in the middle of it all.

May you seek first
the Kingdom of God.

In the Name of the One
whose goodness and love
follow all the days of your life.

Amen

Lectio Divina

Read these words slowly the first time.
Slower the second time.
Slower still the third.
Follow their lead into a deeper silence.

Prayer

God who abides

I want clarity.

I want to hear
when to stay,
when to go.

I know.

There are fields
to leave behind.

Others to tend
for a lifetime.

Keep me
from restless escape, and
from stubborn staying.

Give me
a steady heart.

May I not be bound to an ideal
but grounded
in you.

Lord

Wether I remain
or begin anew,
may I dwell
in and for the sake
of love.

Blessing

Dear Friend

If your life feels like a series of unexpected turns,
yours is in line with the biblical narrative
of a God who meets us on the wilderness path.

The issue with Jonah was not his geography
but the location of his heart.

May you discover the secret gladness
of knowing God in all manner of space and time.

May you discover the glory of God
that fills the whole Earth
and the whole of our lives.

May you leap in faith.
May you remain in faithfulness.

In the Name of the One Who is the Vine

Amen

Lectio Divina

Who can add
a single hour to this life
by worrying?
Jesus

Attention is the beginning of devotion
Unknown

Prayer

God of Presence

I keep walking ahead
eyes fixed on the bend in the trail.

But the ground is here
beneath my feet,
steady, carrying me.

The air is already full,
voices nearby,
light breaking through the trees.

More has been given
than I can hold.

Lord

Turn my pre-occupation
from what is to come
to what is already here

until this step
this breath
this day

is not passed over
but received.

Here is enough.

Blessing

Dear Friend

Contentment is not a prize to pursue.
It is a gift to receive in this given day.

May you notice
provision already given
and smile.

May you worship God
Giver of all good things
with gladness.

In the Name of Christ Jesus,
Creator, Sustainer, and Friend
Amen

Lectio Divina

Better a little with the fear of the Lord
than great wealth with turmoil.
Proverbs 15

Wherever you are,
be all there.
Jim Elliot

Prayer

God of Nearness

I woke up to the quiet hum
of a house half asleep.

I traveled that 20 foot distance
from garage to curb
setting the trash on the street.

I was greeted
by cold Texas air.

Birds were singing, unbothered
in the near distance.

I felt my lungs expand.
And I gave thanks.

Not with G C D and E minor
or choir robes
or lifted evangelical hands

But from the gut.
From the wellspring.
From the inmost parts.

I went back inside.

Eggs in the pan.
Avocado sliced.
Small hands.
Loud voices.

A kiss at the door.

And I looked around.
The department store couch.
The mid-tier dishwasher.
The scent of yesterday’s candle.

All bearing witness.

God is steadfast.
Every moment is a gift.

I looked again.

Nothing spectacular.
Nothing missing.

Only this:
You are near
You are enough

Blessing

Dear Friend

May you notice what is already here.
May the ordinary become revelation.
May you find in small things
the sufficiency of grace.

Go in peace.

In the Name of the One
Who dwells in us

Amen

Lectio Divina

The Lord is my shepherd
I shall not want
Psalm 23

No such thing
No such thing
J Cole

Prayer

God of enough
God of nearness

I am so easily turned
towards the horizon, towards
what is not yet
what is not mine
what is just beyond reach

They tell me
its out there, hidden
in the next purchase
in the next milestone
in the next version
in the next arrival

Even my faith
becomes transaction
a means
a ladder
a quiet striving
dressed in sacred words

But you, O Lord
you are not a means to an end
you are treasure itself

Here
in this unremarkable morning
with breath in my lungs
with light arriving to greet my day
I am without lack

All that I need
is already given

Help me notice
my reaching, and
unclench my hands.

May I arrive at the smile
the Apostle had
while writing in chains
of the secret he carried
in all manner of life.

All my fountains
rise in you.

Blessing

Dear Friend

Our souls are restless
until nourished
by communion
with God.

We were made
for union with the Divine.

May you name
the disordered desires
the misinterpreted longings.

May you find your way
to the inner sanctuary
that the mystics of old enjoyed.

May you live
in the presence
of Father Son and Holy Spirit.

May you be alive.

In the Name of the One
Who taught us to abide in him,

Amen

Lectio Divina

When he entered Jerusalem
the whole city was in turmoil, asking,
“Who is this?”
Matthew 21

The basis for the ethics
of the Sermon on the Mount
is not what works, but rather
who God is.
Stanley Hauerwas

Prayer

God

I have been shouting something true
without knowing what I mean

Hosanna

A word so old
it has worn smooth
on my lips

Hosanna
Salvation
Save Us Lord

But I don’t know
what kind of king
rides an animal like that

I am not sure
if I am in this crowd
or finally watching
from a doorway

God bless America
God bless America

I have grown weary
of all shouting

Certainty moves through a crowd
like a virus

It feels like faith
But I’m not sure what it is

My God is Mighty to Save
My God is Mighty to Save

Still
something
is alive and moving

So here I am
I’m cutting down a branch
from the nearest tree

Not because I understand
but because that word
still touches the deepest
ache in me

Come save me, God
Hosanna

I don’t know what I’m asking for
I don’t know who is listening
but I pray it aloud
anyway

Blessing

Dear Friend

May the image of Jesus
riding into the politically charged
streets of Jerusalem
on a donkey
do in us the quiet work
the gospel writers intended.

May the Spirit
breathe upon such an image,
and disrupt
our imaginations of
power, success, significance, and freedom.

May we ponder our faith in Christ
as a path that leads
to death on a cross.

May we someday be as bold as Paul
who confessed

I want to know Christ,
the power of his resurrection
and participation in his sufferings,
becoming like him in his death.

In the Name of Christ
Who is Faithful
to Complete the Work
God Began in Us

Amen

Lectio Divina

He said to me,
Mortal, can these bones live?

I answered,
O Lord God, you know.
Ezekiel 37

I wait for the Lord
my soul waits
and in his word I hope.
Psalm 130

To set the mind on the flesh is death
but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
Romans 8

When he had said this,
he cried with a loud voice,
Lazarus, come out!

The dead man came out,
his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth,
and his face wrapped in a cloth.
John 11

Prayer

God
Who Raised Lazarus
Who Met Martha in Grief
Who Calls Prophets to Valleys of Dead Bones

Here I am

Standing
in a field
I did not choose

Bones
I once called dreams
now scattered
bleached by the seasons

You ask
what I cannot answer

Can these bones live?

Lord
You know

I have learned
how to move on
how to stay busy
how to craft a narrative

But have I forgotten
hope?

So I wait

Even if
with the thinnest thread
of attention

Spirit of the Living God

This quiet refusal
to call decaying bones
as an end…

Oh may it become a prayer

I no longer seek spectacle
but I long to see
bone by bone
breath by breath
reconstruction of a life lived
near to you

In that space between
Prayer and calling
Just before you say his name
Lazarus

Here I am

Blessing

Dear Friend

The question is not yours to answer.
It is there as invitation to remain.

May you be found in the valley of death
where life begins anew.

May you hear the sound of God
on the move.

May you notice where hope has been harmed.
May you honor the wound.
May you seek the steadfast Christ.

In the Name of the One
Who Greets Us Along the Road

Lectio Divina

He replied,
“Whether he is a sinner or not,
I don’t know.
One thing I do know.
I was blind but now I see!”
John 9

North American Christians are conspicuous for going along with whatever the culture decides is charismatic, successful, influential — whatever gets things done, whatever can gather a crowd of followers — hardly noticing that these ways and means are at odds with the clearly marked way that Jesus walked and called us to follow. Why doesn’t anyone notice?
Eugene Peterson, Cir. 2007

Prayer

God Who Healed on the Sabbath

I live among
strong opinions.

Each day
someone names
my enemies for me.

Their voices are loud.

Lord,
deliver me
from the small satisfactions of outrage,
from the self pleasure of being right,
from the hunger to win,
from the restless need to speak beyond my knowing.

Grant me instead
the subversive way
of Jesus.

Everywhere he went,
healing followed.

Oh that
that might be
said of me.

Amen

Blessing

Dear Friend

May you take pause this morning
to listen.

Not to the noise of ambition and performance
as did the Pharisees in Jesus’ day.

But to the gentle invitation
to be still
to pay attention

Who might you bless this day?
What blessings surround you?

Our God is a good God
always up to something good.

May you be a witness.

Go in peace.
The Lord is with you.

In the Name of Christ,

Amen

Lectio Divina

Come let us go to the mountain of the LORD

He will teach us his ways
so that we may walk in his paths.

Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.

Come let us walk in the light of the LORD.
Isaiah 2

Prayer

God of the trembling earth
Draw near

As the morning greets us
with noise of headlines and commentaries,

Center us.
Ground us.

May stillness
be our path
in a violent world.

For families caught between the powers
For the displaced, the sleepless, the grieving
LORD, hear their prayers

Teach us to still yet hold
in quiet reverence
the smallest acts
of faithfulness.

May I be gentle towards my neighbor
May I greet the stranger with a smile

Dwell in us
God of Peace.

Amen

Blessing

Dear Friend

May the noise of each day
lead us toward confession,
not certainty.

May our souls be shaped
by the nearness of God.

May our small hidden kindness
towards neighbor
be stronger than fear,
as we pray for Kingdom Come.

In the Name of the One
Who Opposes the Proud
and Lifts Up the Humble

Amen

Lectio Divina

In the wilderness,
you saw
how the Lord your God
carried you,
as a father carries his son.
Deuteronomy 1

This is my song of praise to you
For who you are and all that you do
Brian Doerksen

Prayer

I threw my daughter in the sky
She fell into loving embrace
Belly laughter filled the air

And God,
I remembered

the first time
I was handed
that metaphor
of the Divine as
paternal affection

Selah

I think of my own father
his stoic hands
and quiet provision

I think of Tim Taylor
his love loud
and boisterous

I think of Uncle Phil
his arms wide enough
to absorb shame
and make it small

Somewhere between
sitcom tenderness
and immigrant restraint

I begin
to see you

The laughter of heaven
loud, unashamed

A father
who does not flinch
when his children
rise high
or come crashing down

Selah

Oh how I need you, God

You hear
what I do not say

You sit with
what I cannot carry

What hope
to be loved
as I am

What gift
to reflect
who you are

Blessing

Dear Friend

What sustained Jesus
through the Gethsemane night
was not determinism
but affection.

If you are tired,
consider stillness.

May the affirmation
of a loving God
give clarity for the day.

May you be renewed
by the embrace of God.

In the Name of the One
Who taught us to
address a holy God
as Abba.

Amen.

Lectio Divina

You’re not that angry about the drawer in the kitchen.
The drawer simply gave you an outlet
for all the grief and pain sitting right below
the surface of your life.
Rob Bell

Cast all your anxiety on him
because he cares for you.
Be alert and of sober mind.
Your enemy the devil prowls around
like a roaring lion looking
for someone to devour.
Resist him.
1 Peter 5

If I give all I possess to the poor,
but do not have love,
I gain nothing.
1 Corinthians 13

Prayer

God of Peace

When my voice rises
with people I love,
I know.

I’ve gone too long
without stillness.

Smoke rises from
grief unexamined.

LORD,

Shine your light on me
like the patient dawn.

Keep me from
false strength,
that calcifies
into unseen
resentments.

May I be
a block of ice, slowly
thawing out
in your nearness.

Blessing

Dear Friend

May you hear the invitation
to bring your true self
into the sacred ground
of solitude and communion.

May you honor the ones you love,
by being still with the One
whose Name is Love.

May you not give the devil a foothold
by serving Christ, without first being near.

May you abide, and bear much fruit.

In the Name of the One
Who is Faithful to Complete
the Work He Began in You.

Amen.

Lectio Divina

Rejoice always, pray continually,
give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is God’s will for you
in Christ Jesus
1 Thessalonians 5

You must not ever stop being whimsical.
And you must not, ever, give anyone else
the responsibility for your life.
Mary Oliver

You mustn’t wish for another life.
You mustn’t want to be somebody else.
What you must do is this:
Rejoice evermore.
Pray without ceasing.
In everything give thanks.
I am not all the way capable of so much,
but those are the right instructions.
Wendell Berry

Prayer

God of Life

I think
these apps
conspire
to keep me
in a state of
shock
and offense.

My attention
enhances corporate wealth,
and diminishes my soul.

I am entertained.
I am enraged.

I am entertained.
I am enraged.

I am entertained.
I am enraged.

All
throughout,
every
single
day.

Politicians I dislike?
They are vilified.

My own limited insights?
They are fossilized.

What is happening to my soul?

It’s as though I am shrinking
into an adolescent self,
unable to hold tension,
unable to synthesize,
unable to comprehend beyond
two dimensional planes.

I am right.
They are wrong.
This is the doctrine of algorithm.

Selah

You
O Christ

Before you rose from the dead
You rose before the sunrise
to be alone
to be centered
to be one with Father and Spirit
to then live in the dance of union

Selah

O God
who searches hearts

Expose every screen
that causes my soul
to wither.

May I be transformed.

May I not conform
to the patterns of
a Zuckerbergian world.

May I see what you see
May I love whom you love
May I pray without ceasing

May I resist
looking for hope
without first
knowing its source.

Selah

O Crucified God

Let not my imagination of kingdom
be flattened to geopolitics or fiat currencies.

May I be in and yet not of
such worlds.

Teach me to follow Jesus.

The one who spoke truth
without rage, and trusted
the Father in death
and taxes.

May I give to you
all that belongs to you.

Amen

Invitation to Discipleship

Dear Friend

Good Morning.
The Lord be with you.

This week
put down your phone
more than you might think to do.

Give to God
your attention
undivided, five minutes at a time
each morning and afternoon.

Let your nervous system
feel the good news:
God is still up to something good.
God dwells within our broken lives.

Go in peace.
Go in union with God.
Rejoice. Pray. Give Thanks.

In the Name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Amen

Lectio Divina

Let your gentleness be evident to all.
Philippians 4

Violence is what happens
when we refuse to live in tension.
Parker Palmer

Prayer

God Who Walked
with Fishermen and Tax Collectors
with Pharisees and Zealots

In a world
of spectacle
and tribes

May I choose wisdom
over a side

When banners are raised
and I am pressed to the binary

May I choose
the narrow path
of attention

When the room gets loud, keep
my voice low
my hands open
my heart near

May I be gentle
as you are

Amen

Blessing

Dear Friend

I hope you are staying warm this morning.
Receive these words as an invitation…

May you be strong enough
to be gentle.

May your presence
create a little quiet
where you stand.

May you know the God
who walks slowly
with those
of differing class
and politics.

May you see
the image of God
in the face of your enemy.

May you love
generously
without expectation
of return.

May you be at peace
without the last word.

In the Name of the One
who invites us to ponder
the absence of reward
when we love only those
who love us in return,

Amen