Brother Richard

Welcome back.

One of the most important meditative disciplines in the Christian mystical tradition is that of Lectio Divina, divine reading.

This is a way of slowly and gently working with the passage of scripture, or indeed any other book, so as to allow its deep meaning to arise.

It allows us to refer the passage to ourselves, to our own existence in the present moment, while recognizing that there are transcendent truths that move behind the words.

In our meditation today, we will work with one of the most important phrases within the Christian tradition.

I have come that you may have life.

I have come that you may have life.

So let's begin.

Entering this time together, we do so with warmth, with openness, with awareness.

Moving to our place of sitting, we take a moment to really step into this time

to let go of what was before, to leave aside what will come later, to give ourselves permission to enter this time fully, deeply, and gently.

Folding ourselves into sitting now, we feel once again that old stable anchor of the floor beneath us,

We allow the chair or the cushion to hold us, really relaxing into it, letting it bear our weight.

Lengthening, straightening the spine, we allow the shoulders to sink and fall, the breath to be open and clear.

Take a moment to simply notice any point of tension in the body that may need to be attended to.

Perhaps a little stretch or movement as you settle.

You can always return to this later, but to acknowledge it at the start lessens its power to distract later.

Rest your hands upon your lap.

Close your eyes or gentle your gaze by turning it towards the floor.

Take a moment to be with the breath, not changing it in any way, but just noticing.