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A place of reflection from the contemplative Christian tradition featuring guided meditations in the spirit of lectio divina and centering prayer. Best experienced through headphones.
Breath of Love -- Proper 24, Year C (Track 2)
Readings: Genesis 32:22-31; Psalm 121; 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5; Luke 18:1-8
>>>Welcome
Welcome to Breath of Love.
This is a place for sacred listening --
a rhythm of Scripture, silence, and embodied prayer.
Each week we enter the same simple pattern:
breathing, receiving,
returning to the heart of love that holds all things.
Wherever you are -- in stillness or in motion --
alone or among others --
you are part of this circle of sound.
There is nothing you need to perform here.
Only to breathe.
Only to receive.
So we begin, as always,
by finding the breath again --
a breath that meets us where we are
and carries us deeper
into the mystery of Christ alive in all things.
>>>Centering and Breath Prayer
Find yourself in a comfortable position –
or simply in a posture of awareness, wherever you may be.
You might let your attention drift inward…
or outward…
noticing the air that moves through and around you.
There is no need to fix or change anything.
You may simply notice…
the gentle rhythm of your breathing…
the steadiness that is already here.
You may remember:
even in struggle, there is blessing.
Even in uncertainty, there is Presence.
And with each breath, let these words move through you:
Breathe in: I will not let go of Love.
Breathe out: Love will not let go of me.
Let that rhythm become steady and kind –
like a heartbeat returning to rest.
>>>Meditation 1 – Genesis 32:22–31
Here is the story of Jacob, alone in the night,
wrestling with a mysterious Presence until the dawn.
He has crossed every boundary of his old life.
Now he meets the one boundary
he cannot cross without being changed.
You might feel, somewhere within you, that same tension --
between what must be released and what will not let go.
Between fear and blessing.
Between striving and surrender.
The sacred visitor does not destroy him;
instead, the struggle itself becomes his anointing.
A new name.
A limp that tells the truth.
Breathe in: I will not let go of Love.
Breathe out: Love will not let go of me.
>>>Meditation 2 – Psalm 121
The Psalmist sings:
“I lift up my eyes to the hills –
from where will my help come?”
You may picture those hills now,
ancient witnesses to the movement of clouds and seasons,
standing guard over your path.
Your help comes from the One who made those hills --
who does not slumber,
who watches as you sleep and wake,
whose keeping never fails.
Each breath becomes an act of trust,
a quiet assent to being held
in something larger than fear.
Breathe in: I will not let go of Love.
Breathe out: Love will not let go of me.
>>>Meditation 3 – 2 Timothy 3:14 – 4:5
“Continue in what you have learned,” Paul writes.
Be steady, whether the time is favorable or not.
You might feel the weight of those words --
the call to persistence when the world grows weary,
to stay tender in an age that prizes control.
Remember those who taught you faith:
their patience, their courage,
their small acts of endurance.
Their witness breathes in you now.
Even when you feel emptied,
grace is learning to speak
through your own faltering voice.
Breathe in: I will not let go of Love.
Breathe out: Love will not let go of me.
>>>Meditation 4 – Luke 18:1–8
Jesus tells a story of a widow who will not give up --
who keeps knocking, keeps asking, keeps showing up.
Her persistence is not desperation.
It is faith with a pulse.
It is love refusing to believe the world cannot change.
You may sense that pulse now --
a small, steady rhythm inside you
that believes still, that prays still,
that keeps rising even after every disappointment.
Breathe in: I will not let go of Love.
Breathe out: Love will not let go of me.
>>>Body Blessing
Let this breath of Love now travel through your body --
a blessing that begins at your feet and moves upward like light.
Breathe into the soles of your feet --
grounded and steady.
Breathe into your legs --
strong for the path ahead.
Breathe into your belly --
home of courage and compassion.
Breathe into your heart --
tender, resilient, faithful.
Breathe into your hands --
open to serve and to receive.
Breathe into your shoulders --
releasing the burdens you no longer need to carry.
Breathe into your face --
softening, brightening, becoming transparent to peace.
And now the crown of your head --
open to the light that surrounds and fills you.
Gather it all together -- your body, your breath, your being --
held, blessed, renewed.
Amen.
>>>Farewell
Stay here as long as you wish.
There is no hurry.
The breath that holds you goes with you into what is next.
When you speak, may your words carry kindness.
When you move, may your steps remember stillness.
And when you rest, may you feel the quiet joy
of belonging to all that is.
This is Breath of Love.
Until next time --
go gently,
and breathe peace.