Lectio Divina is an ancient practice of praying the Scriptures, hearing God’s word for us today through the “ear of our heart.” In our Tuesday morning lectio time last week, we meditated on Psalm 29. God worked amazingly to speak to us in the last verse of the psalm. Psalm 29:11 says, “May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with strength.”
In light of the wars that rage around us… in the middle east… Iraq… Afghanastan and other places, God raises the issue of peace and peace making through an ancient text. I share with you my reflection and prayer on this text:
“Peace is illusive, perhaps even illusion. Peace is present when my personal strength is enough to protect all the edges of my being. My peace is built in the strength of my personal power, or the power of my closest ally. But my peace is not your peace, O God. Your peace is found in powerlessness, abandonment, yielding, submission, obedience, and those attributes are contrary to my very nature.
Survival of the fittest is status quo mentality. But Shalom is your peace, O God. Shalom is your peace when lion and lamb lie together and swords are made into plowshares. Since few of us have practiced this kind of peace, and all of us would have to agree to it for it to work, it will likely never be, save your intervention. If I lay down my arms, I will be over-run. For there are still those who seek to do harm… anything to get their own way, their own justice.
Bless us, Lord, with your peace, a peace where all creation ‘wins ‘and the new Zion is born. Amen.”
You are invited to join the Saint Mark’s lectio divina prayer time on Tuesday mornings at 9:30. Bring a journal and a pen, and come ready to encounter the living God.
