Hi friends,
This is Sue,
And welcome to this week's guided Lectio Divina practice,
Rooted in the Gospel of Thomas.
Now,
Remember,
In this practice we are not analyzing the text we hear.
Instead,
We are allowing it to speak to us,
To take root in our hearts,
To see how the divine is moving in us and speaking to us,
That new arisings might emerge in our lives.
So,
Let's begin by settling into a gentle stillness.
Feel the breath that moves through you,
Grounding you in this moment.
Breathe in deeply,
And exhale fully.
Close your eyes and rest in the quiet.
Just set the stage to allow the mystery of the sacred to open before you.
Trust that you are held in love,
Even as you journey into the unknown.
And in this space of stillness,
Of receptivity,
Of rooted groundedness,
Let us take in today's passage and enter into its wisdom and spirit together.
Yeshua said,
If your leaders tell you,
Look,
The kingdom is in heaven,
Then the birds of heaven will precede you.
If they tell you it's in the sea,
Then the fish will precede you.
Rather,
The kingdom is within you,
And it is outside of you.
When you know yourselves,
Then you will be known.
If your leaders tell you,
Look,
The kingdom is in heaven,
Then the birds of heaven will precede you.
If they tell you it's in the sea,
Then the fish will precede you.
Rather,
The kingdom is within you,
And it is outside of you.
When you know yourselves,
Then you will be known.
Let the rhythm of the phrases sink into your heart.
Imagine them as seeds,
Slowly finding their place in your heart,
In your being.
Which words stir something within you?
Do any particular images or ideas call to you?
Hold these gently in your awareness.
You are not searching for meaning,
Only for the place where the words land within you.
Now,
In the quiet of your heart,
Allow the chosen word or image to deepen.
Imagine the kingdom spoken of here.
It's not really a kingdom,
It's more like a realm.
Something in which you dwell,
And which dwells in you.
It's not in the sky,
Where we often imagine heaven to be,
Where the birds fly.
It's not in the sea,
Where the fish swim.
It's not anywhere out of reach.
It's right here,
Within you and around you.
Close your eyes and sit with that truth.
The kingdom is a presence woven here and now into the fabric of who you are and where you are,
And you are already held within it.
Kingdom is within you,
And it is outside of you.
How does this shift the way you see the world around you?
How does it shift the way you see yourself?
Now,
Reflect on this next phrase,
When you know yourselves,
Then you will be known.
What does it mean to know yourself?
What is the self you are called to know,
And how do you come to know it?
Perhaps we are familiar with coming to know the surface self,
The egoic self,
The self shaped by the world,
By expectations and fears.
The self we encounter in our self-awareness practice,
In our Enneagram work,
In our conflict resolutions.
And is there also a deeper self,
A truer self,
Self that comes to us through our spiritual practices,
In and through our deepest joys,
In and through our most profound grieving.
And I am hidden within,
Just waiting to be revealed.
Breathe into this.
Can you sense that deeper knowing?
If your leaders tell you,
Look,
The kingdom is in heaven,
And the birds of heaven will precede you.
If they tell you it's in the sea,
Then the fish will precede you.
Rather,
The kingdom is within you,
And it is outside of you.
When you know yourselves,
Then you will be known.
What arises within you in response to these words?
Perhaps you feel moved to offer a prayer of gratitude for the nearness of the kingdom,
The intimacy of the realm.
Closer than you ever imagined.
Maybe you feel compelled to ask for guidance,
For the courage to look within and truly know yourself,
Your egoic self and your truest self.
To meet the kingdom not as an idea,
But as a lived reality.
Or perhaps you just want to sit in silence,
Allowing your heart to express itself without words,
In quiet language,
Presence,
And surrender.
Just let your response be authentic.
Let it be free.
There is no need to force anything,
Only to listen to the movement within you and respond from that sacred place.
And as we come to rest now,
Is there something within you that feels more spacious,
More connected?
Can you sense that the kingdom is a presence already interwoven with your life,
Waiting for you to awaken to it?
Allow the words to fall away,
Leaving only silence.
Sit in the stillness,
Resting in the knowledge that the kingdom is already here within you and around you.
You are seen even as you see.
You are known even as you come to know.
There is nothing you must do to earn this knowing.
It is already yours.
As natural as the breath in your lungs,
The heartbeat in your chest,
You are already part of the mystery unfolding.
And so in Dwelling Divine,
May we continually awaken to this awareness of the kingdom within us and around us.
May we come to know ourselves even as we are known.
And may this knowing take root in our hearts and move us as we move.
Through the world.
Amen.
And if you feel so moved,
I invite you to share what has come up for you in this practice in the Church Center.
And I also invite you to just stay in silence right now as long as you feel moved to stay there.
