Latest Thoughts
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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Scriptio: My Ego Is A Raging Storm
My ego is a raging storm that I cannot control. The harder I try, the more it overwhelms me. There are brief moments when it seems like I have tamed it, when it appears as if I have held the rains and winds at bay. But then the calm subsides, the storm overtake me,…
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Oratio: Inconvenient Love
We are not asked to loveit is not a mere suggestionwe are commanded to loveto love Godto love our neighborsto love our enemiesto pray for thosewho persecute usto forgive our fellowsseventy times seven timesthis is not convenient loveit is the hardest love to giveit comes with no worldly rewardnot even prideful satisfactionin fact –…
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Lectio: What The Lord Requires
“And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” ~Micah 6:8
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Scriptio: Letting Her Love Me
My wife and I have been married for over fifteen years and it has taken the entirety of those fifteen years just to begin to learn how to let someone love me. I thank God for the fact that she is not only faithful, but persistent. She has never given up on me and…
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Oratio: Tethered To God
Prayertethers my heartto Godpreventing mefrom sinking too lowin depressionor being carried awayby grandiosityprayer keeps mewhere I must bewhich is right herereaching for heavensupported by earthin service to God ~Robert Van Valkenburgh
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Lectio: Depressed Or Inflated
“If you don’t pray, you will inevitably become either depressed or inflated – or bounce back-and-forth between the two. You will either be habitually depressed or obsessed with your own ego.” ~Ronald Rolheiser, paraphrasing Robert Moore
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Scriptio: Presence Is Prayer
So much of what we call prayer is about being present to the presence of God. This is true whether it is petitionary prayer, intercessory prayer, contemplative prayer, centering prayer, or ritualistic prayer like praying the rosary. When we pray, we place ourselves in the presence of God and, through whatever method we happen…
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Oratio: Deliver Me From Exile
Have mercy Lordfor I am a sinnerI look at my fellowswith contemptenvy and lustI cannot runnor hide from your sightfor even in solitudemy thoughts and feelingsbetray my wretched heartand defy your commandI have worshipped false idolsand bowed at the altarof worldly riches and praisefor far too longdeliver me Lordfrom spiritual exileinto your kingdom ~Robert…
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Lectio: When We Are Busy
“Every one of us needs half an hour of prayer a day, except when we are busy – then we need an hour.” ~St. Frances de Sales
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Scriptio: Do Not Quit On A Bad Day
In his fifth Rule for the Discernment of Spirits, St Ignatius of Loyola states, “In times of desolation, never make a change.” In other words, when you don’t feel God’s presence in your life, continue doing the things you did when you did feel his presence in your life. Don’t make rash or hasty…
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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…
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Before We Cry Out: Julian of Norwich and the Prayer God Prays in Us (Lectio Divina)
What if the prayer you’ve been struggling to find words for was already being prayed before you knew how to ask? Julian of Norwich names a goodness that does not wait for the right words, the right posture, or even the right understanding of what is happening — it comes down to meet us in…
