Lectio
“The Christian has a deep, silent, hidden peace, which the world sees not, like some well in a retired and shady place.”
— John Henry Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. V, Sermon 5 (“Equanimity”)
Meditatio
The Lord calls me home. Love calls me home — into love. To be still. To sit with Love. To sit in Love.
There is a place, shaded and still, where Love waits. Not far. Never far. The Lord calls me to rest there. To rest here. To give Him my pain. My questions. My frustrations. To give Him my love and my broken heart. He wants all of me — good and bad, whole and broken, for better or worse. He wants me as I am. As I can be. As He would have me be. In love. Through love. With love.
The Lord calls me. With a whisper. With a smile. With a summer breeze through the leaves. The flowering field alive before me. The sweet scent of wildflowers wafting my way. I am awakened. I am comforted. I am home — even if just for a moment. I am home. In love. For a moment, I am love.
Oratio
beneath the willow tree,
shaded from the summer heat,
a cool breeze blows through me —
an internal silence,
a tranquil stillness
amidst nature’s movements:
rustling leaves overhead,
the flowering field alive before me,
birds’ songs of call and response in the distance,
creatures scurrying to and fro
like the thoughts of what if and what happened
that run through my mind —
a needed repose,
a needed reminder
that all is well,
and all will be well,
with or without me.
Contemplatio
Where in your life is Love already waiting — nearer than you think, shaded and still — if only you could stop long enough to rest there?
Related Scripture
“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love.”
— Zephaniah 3:17
For Further Reading
If you enjoyed this post, you may also like The Sabbath Was Made for You: Consent to God’s Gift of Rest, which explores the same invitation to stop striving and receive — tracing the sabbath not as obligation but as God’s freely given gift of repose to a weary heart.
Robert Van Valkenburgh
Grappling With Divinity.
Wrestling With God.
Returning To Love.
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