Lectio
“We reveal our true selves—as well as our growth in the spiritual life—as we go about ordinary daily chores, and above all in our relationships with our brothers and sisters.”
— Patrick Hart, OCSO, foreword to James Finley, Merton’s Palace of Nowhere, 25th anniversary ed.
Meditatio
The greatest demonstration of our spiritual growth, or lack thereof, is found in our everyday lives. For better or worse, and whether we like it or not, our closest relationships bring out the truth of where we are at spiritually. They highlight our strengths and expose our weaknesses in ways that little else can do.
No matter how hard we try to be spiritual, how much we wish to practice kindness, peacefulness, and forgiveness, how often we read Scripture or other spiritual literature, how much time we set aside for contemplation, or how many retreats or prayer groups we attend, our everyday lives show us how far we have come and how much further we have to go in this never-ending journey of love.
It is easy to perceive the chores, the phone calls, the meetings and appointments, and the intimate, often uncomfortable interactions we have as disruptions to our spiritual practice, but these are our spiritual practice.
When our spouse asks to talk while we are in the middle of our morning devotional readings, when our child wants our attention halfway through our silent prayer time, when a friend or relative schedules an important event on the same day we were hoping to go on a retreat, or when mother nature inconveniences us with a thunderstorm when we wanted to go hiking with God, how we respond to these situations is our prayer life because our life is our prayer life.
The question is whether we respond to these circumstances with love or with something else. This is what Teresa of Avila means when she says that God lives in the pots and pans, what Brother Lawrence means when he says that we should practice the presence of God in all things, and what Paul means when he says we must pray without ceasing. It is also what Jesus reveals throughout his teaching and his life: that to love our neighbor, to honor our parents, to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, and to clothe the naked is to do these things to him (Matthew 25:31–46); and that to persecute his disciples, as Saul discovered on the road to Damascus, is to persecute Christ (Acts 9:4–5). How we treat one another is how we treat God.
Oratio
my best laid plans
cannot compare
to your loving will
unfolding before me
revealing itself to me
recollecting me
into your depths
even through what feels like
interruption
disruption
inconvenience
annoyance
torment
agony
your plan
your love
your grace
your mercy
unfolds before me
as me
as all that I resist
Contemplatio
Where in your life are you most resistant to love — and what might it mean that God is unfolding there too?
Related Scripture
“Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.” — 1 John 4:20 (NRSVCE)
For Further Reading
If you enjoyed this post, you may also like Opening the Heart: Love, Grace, and the Practice of Saying Yes, which explores how our everyday relationships are the very place where our hearts learn to open — and how the love we practice with the neighbor we can see deepens our capacity for the God we cannot.
Robert Van Valkenburgh
Grappling With Divinity.
Wrestling With God.
Returning To Love.
Leave a Reply