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Gently voiced meditations in the spirit of lectio divina and centering prayer, held in quiet, immersive stereo sound and shaped by the rhythms of Scripture and the turning seasons of the Christian year. Best experienced through headphones.
Welcome to Breath of Love. Wherever you are, however this moment finds you, you are invited to simply arrive here. For this little while there is nothing to accomplish, nothing to solve, nothing to force, only this breath, only this listening. Some words you hear today may stay close, others may pass lightly by. You do not need to hold on to them.
Narrator:Often one phrase is enough. So we begin as always by noticing the breath you already have. The breath that carries us deeper into the mystery of Christ alive in all things. Find yourself in a comfortable position. If still, notice the steadiness beneath you.
Narrator:If moving, notice the rhythm already carrying you and simply notice the breath arriving without effort, without needing to improve it. Some things become clear all at once but often clarity comes slowly. The way dawn comes, a little brightness, then outline, then shape, then something once hidden becoming quietly visible. This week the readings move among hidden choosing, still waters, awakening, and sight given where sight had never been. Not everything appears as expected, not every kind of seeing begins with certainty.
Narrator:So for now, let your breath take up this prayer. Breathe in, open my eyes, breathe out, teach me to see. Again, breathe in, open my eyes, breathe out, teach me to see, and let that remain nearby as the readings unfold. A reading from the first book of Samuel. The Lord said to Samuel, how long will you grieve over Saul?
Narrator:I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite for I have provided for myself a king among his sons. Samuel said, how can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.
Narrator:And the Lord said, take a heifer with you and say, I have come to sacrifice to the lord. Invite Jesse to the sacrifice and I will show you what you shall do and you shall anoint for me the one whom I named to you. Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, do you come peaceably? He said peaceably, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.
Narrator:Sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they came, he looked upon Eliab and thought, surely the Lord's anointed is now before the Lord. But the Lord said to Samuel, do not look appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord does not see as mortals see, They look on outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.
Narrator:Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. He said, neither has the Lord chosen this one. Then Jesse made Shammah pass by, and he said, neither has the Lord chosen this one. Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, the Lord has not chosen any of these.
Narrator:Samuel said to Jesse, are all your sons here? And he said, there remains the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, send and bring him for we will not sit down until he comes here. He sent and brought him in. Now he was ready and had beautiful eyes and was handsome.
Narrator:And the Lord said, rise and anoint him for this is the one. Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day for word. Samuel then set out and went to Rama. Breathe in beyond what appears. Breathe out.
Narrator:You see the heart. Beyond what appears, you see the heart. Beyond what appears, you see the heart. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not be in want.
Narrator:He makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters. He revives my soul and guides me along right pathways for his name's sake. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You have spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me.
Narrator:You have anointed my head with oil, and my cup is running over. Surely, your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Breathe in, lead me gently. Breathe out, restore my soul. Lead me gently, Restore my soul.
Narrator:Lead me gently. Restore my soul. A reading from the letter to the Ephesians. Once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true.
Narrator:Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly, but everything exposed by the light becomes visible. For everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, sleeper, awake, rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you.
Narrator:Breathe in. Wake what sleeps. Breathe out. Let Christ shine. Wake what sleeps.
Narrator:Let Christ shine. Wake what sleeps. Let Christ shine. A reading from the Gospel according to John. As Jesus walked along, he saw man blind from birth.
Narrator:His disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned? This man or his parents that he was born blind? Jesus answered, neither this man nor his parents sinned. He was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day.
Narrator:Night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes saying to him, go wash in the pool of Siloam, which means sent. And he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, is this not the man who used to sit and beg?
Narrator:Some were saying, it is he. Others were saying, no, but it is someone like him. He kept saying, I am the man. But they kept asking him, then how were your eyes opened? He answered, the man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, go to Siloam and wash.
Narrator:Then I went and washed and received my sight. They said to him, where is he? He said, I do not know. They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.
Narrator:Then the pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, he put mud on my eyes, then I washed and now I see. Some of the pharisees said, this man is not from God for he does not observe the Sabbath. But others said, how can a man who is a sinner perform such signs? And they were divided.
Narrator:So they said again to the blind man, what do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened. He said, he is a prophet. The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, is this your son who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?
Narrator:His parents answered, we know that this is our son and that he was born blind, but we do not know how it is that he now sees nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him. He is of age. He will speak for himself. His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews have already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue.
Narrator:Therefore his parents said, he is of age, ask him. So for the second time they called the man who had been born blind and they said to him, give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner. He answered, I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know that though I was blind, now I see.
Narrator:They said to him, what did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? He answered them, I have told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?
Narrator:Then they reviled him saying, you are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from. The man answered, here is an astonishing thing, you do not know where he comes from and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to the one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind.
Narrator:If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. And they answered him, you were born entirely in sins and are you trying to teach us? And they drove him out. Jesus heard that they had driven him out and when they found him he said, do you believe in the son of man? He answered, and who is he, sir?
Narrator:Tell me, so that I may believe in him. Jesus said to him, you have seen him and the one speaking with you is he. He said, Lord, I believe and he worshipped him. Jesus said, I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do not see may become blind. Some of the pharisees near him heard this and said to him, surely we are not blind, are we?
Narrator:Jesus said to them, if you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, we see, your sin remains. Breathe in, though I was blind. Breathe out, now I see. Though I was blind, now I see.
Narrator:Though I was blind, now I see. Now let the words settle a little deeper. Bring attention to the forehead where effort gathers, where thought often tries to decide too quickly what is already true. May there be gentleness here. Bring attention to the eyes, eyes that search, eyes that tire, eyes that sometimes overlook what is nearest.
Narrator:May sight become patient, not grasping, not defending, simply receiving. Bring attention to the jaw where held words wait. May what is clenched loosen. Bring attention to the throat, the place of naming, the place of testimony, the place where one clear sentence can sometimes be enough. Bring attention to the chest, the place scripture sometimes calls heart, the hidden place known before it is explained.
Narrator:Bring attention to the hands, hands that carry oil, hands that bless, hands that wash, hands that open. Bring attention to the feet, feet led through valleys, feet learning again where the path lies. And now the whole body together breathing, held, still becoming clear. Breathe in. Open my eyes.
Narrator:Breathe out. Teach me to see. Open my eyes. Teach me to see. Open my eyes.
Narrator:Teach me to see. As we come to the end of this time, there is no hurry. The breath that has been holding you will go with you into whatever is next. The words that have moved in and through you have settled into their place. This is Breath of Love.
Narrator:Until next time, go gently and know you belong to all that is. Amen.