Thy Kingdom Come…

Lectio Divina is Latin for divine reading. It is an ancient way of reading Scripture that has been kept alive for centuries by the Christian monastic tradition. Lectio Divina is simply a rhythm of reading a given text, meditating on it, entering into prayerful dialogue with God, and creating space to contemplate in stillness.

It is my understanding that the Word of God must never be objectified and thus approached as something we can rationally explain. Rather, the Word is a mystery that invites us into a relationship. For when reading Scripture, it is not in the words where we find God, but in our encounter with them.

Thus, Lectio Divina beckons us to delve into the mystery with the hope that we might be transformed by an encounter with the living God.

Isaiah 55:8-13

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
it will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.

Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD’s renown,
for an everlasting sign,
that will endure forever.”