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Explore My Reflections
Following the contemplative rhythm of Lectio Divina
Moving from Attentive Reading (Lectio)
To Reflection (Meditatio)
To Prayerful Response (Oratio)
And finally into Silent Resting in God (Contemplatio)
Grappling With Divinity invites a slow unfolding of Scripture, Spiritual Wisdom, and Lived Experience.
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Oratio: Clutch To The Cross
I clutch tothe crossthe giftof salvationit reminds meof youthe price you paidfor methough I may weepand I may mournpeace and joyare your promise ~Robert Van Valkenburgh
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Lectio: Even Greater
Do not be troubled if you do not immediately receive from God what you ask Him; for He desires to do something even greater for you, while you cling to Him in prayer. ~Evagrius Ponticus
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Lectio: You Are God’s Temple
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? ~1 Corinthians 3:16
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Scriptio: On Love And Judgement
In Matthew 7:2, Jesus says, “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (NIV).” I always interpreted this as meaning that how I judge others now will be how I am judged by God later. This may be…
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Oratio: Divine Silence
Hold mein divine silencethat I mayhold othersin the sameallowing lovealoneto do the workbetween us ~Robert Van Valkenburgh
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Lectio: Better Than Silence
Let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent. ~Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite
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Scriptio: Not A Good Christian
I am not a Christian because I am a selfless, upstanding, and moral person who does everything right and is beyond reproach. On the contrary, I am a Christian because I am a flawed, broken, and sinful person who, without God, makes selfish and harmful decisions that lead only to despair. It was not…
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Oratio: Not In This World
My peaceis not in this worldnor in myselfbut in the Lordwho is with mealwayseven when I cannot seenor hearnor feel HimHe is my refugemy restand my salvation ~Robert Van Valkenburgh
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Lectio: Peace In Me
“I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.” ~John 16:33
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Scriptio: Exhausted From Suffering
I’m exhausted from suffering. The worst part is that no one is doing it to me. I am the cause of my own misery. It’s not intentional. I get an idea, it becomes an obsession, and then I impulsively act on that obsession until I hit a wall or run out of steam. Either…
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Even a Pin Picked Up in Love: Thérèse of Lisieux and the Little Way of Sabbath (Lectio Divina)
What if the smallest thing you do today — a pin lifted from the floor, a quiet hour handed over — carries more weight than the great things you keep waiting to do? Thérèse of Lisieux hints at a strange arithmetic of love, and this reflection sits with the Sabbath we keep so imperfectly, and…
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The Calm We Cannot Make: St. John Chrysostom on Tears, Confession, and Peace (Lectio Divina)
What if the peace you keep trying to manufacture was never yours to make? St. John Chrysostom describes the calm that follows tears the way a violent storm gives way to stillness, and this reflection sits with the ache of falling short of the peace Christ asks us to carry — and the distance between…
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Whitewashed and Withholding: Origen on the Mercy We Refuse to Give (Lectio Divina)
What if the reconciliation you keep postponing is the very thing standing between you and the God you’re trying to reach? Origen names a righteousness that’s dead on arrival — polished outside, hollow within — and this reflection sits with the mercy we’d rather hoard than pass on, and the depths waiting for those who…
