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Altar of Insomnia: The Transformative Power of Grace (Lectio Divina)
Robert Van Valkenburgh traces the arc from childhood hyper-vigilance to a 4 a.m. moment of insomnia — where the altar of self-made atonement becomes, by grace, the place of surrender. Drawing on St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s bold declaration that she fears only one thing — keeping her own will — this Lectio Divina asks…
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The Examined Life: A Christian Reflection on a Life Worth Living (Lectio Divina)
Socrates said the unexamined life is not worth living. But what happens when you take that invitation seriously — and discover that the Christian life asks something far more demanding than mere self-reflection? This Lectio Divina reflection, drawn from the Preface of The Cloud of Unknowing, traces the arc from philosophical self-examination to Christian…
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The Soul’s Sole Longing: On Surrender, Resistance, and Returning to Love (Lectio Divina)
What happens when a soul that has turned toward God tries to turn away? Teresa of Ávila’s words open this reflection: the struggle is fierce, and in the end, struggle is of little avail against the Lord’s desire. Drawing on the Rahnerian insight that grace and freedom are equally gifts of God, and on…
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Listening for the God of This Moment: On Prayer, Presence, and Renewal (Lectio Divina)
Every morning, Robert Van Valkenburgh sits in the same chair, faces the same window, and prays to the same God. Same woods. Same birds. Same silence. And yet each morning is a different morning. Each morning he is a different person. And each morning, God’s face is not the same. This post moves outward…
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The Darkness That Leads To Light: On Sabbath And Trust (Lectio Divina)
Sabbath is not just a day. It is a practice — and at the heart of that practice is something most of us quietly resist: trust. Evelyn Underhill’s words cut to the center of it: the voice of God is very gentle, and we cannot hear it if we let other voices compete. But…
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When The Ashes Rise: Resentments And The Purifying Fires Of Love (Lectio Divina)
Resentment doesn’t just wound relationships — it distorts vision, leaving us unable to recognize God in God, in our neighbors, or in ourselves. Drawing on Thomas Merton’s unsettling observation about the cost of too much privacy, and on Abba Anthony’s stark saying about life, death, and the neighbor, this reflection traces resentment as it…
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Love Much: Teresa of Ávila on the Soul’s Deepest Longing (Lectio Divina)
Teresa of Ávila warns that progress in the spiritual life depends not on how much we think, but on how much we love. But what does it mean to follow love when your appetites are shouting, your desires are divided, and the whisper of Love is barely audible beneath the noise? This reflection begins…
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Stillness Recollecting Stillness: The Longing Beneath Our Longing (Lectio Divina)
Stillness cannot be forced, willed, or manufactured. It preexists everything we think, say, and do — and it remains long after all of it fades into memory. But this post doesn’t stop at stillness as ground. It asks something stranger and more beautiful: what if stillness is not waiting to be found, but waiting…
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Don’t Wait To Pray: A Contemplative Reflection On Prayer And Time (Lectio Divina)
God created time for us — not because we are the center of the universe, but because he loves us and wants to be with us. And yet we keep waiting: for our schedules to free up, for conditions to feel right, for the resistance to pass. This Lectio Divina, drawn from James Finley’s…
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Not Your Own Making: On Divine Calling, Consulting the Lord, and the Life For Which You Were Made (Lectio Divina)
Most of us spend our entire lives searching for our calling — moving from purpose to purpose, desire to desire, and false identity to false identity. But a calling is not something we create or decide upon. It is something we hear. And our true calling is merely to listen for God’s calling. The…