Lectio & Labyrinth: Loving God Means Loving Others

This week we weave together the ancient spiritual practices of Lectio Divina with walking the Labyrinth as we pray with 1 John 4:7-21.  Do you have easy access to a Labyrinth that you could walk?   If not, you can take this Link to a finger Labyrinth that you can download and print: PDF File/Labyrinth.  If you prefer, I'll give you a link below to an online labyrinth within your experience of Lectio.  By the Way, we are going OFF Lectionary this week :)

Thus says the LORD:
Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.  Jeremiah 6:16ab

Both Lectio Divina and Walking the Labyrinth are ancient spiritual pathways to God.  Lectio Divina is a Latin phrase that means "sacred reading." It is a way of praying and listening for the still, small voice of God speaking through gentle reading of scripture.  Lectio Divina has also been known as "listening with the ear of the heart."    Beginning in the middle ages, Christianity adopted the Labyrinth as a symbol, changing the design to permeate it with specifically Christian meaning. For almost a thousand years there has been an identifiable Christian labyrinth tradition.

In our spiritual lives we often talk about the horizontal relationship, the relationship between a person and God.  The horizontal relationship informs and affects the vertical relationships in our lives, the relationship between a person and another person.  Read the beginning verses of 1 John 4 (7-10)* to get a sense of how we know the depth of God’s love for us. 

Beloved, let us love one another because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten of God and has knowledge of God.  Those who do not love have known nothing of God, for God is love.  God’s love was revealed in our midst in this way: by sending the Only Begotten into the world, that we might have faith through the Anointed One.  Love, then, consists in this: not that we have loved God, but that God has loved us and has sent the Only Begotten to be an offering for our sins.  

This is the question that arises for me as I read this passage.  “How does the love of God for us in Christ inform how we express our love for other human beings? 

With a sense of the love that God has for you and remembering that Jesus died willingly because humanity is loved so deeply by God, consider this question:  How do you feel about God’s love for you?  Settle into a place of loving openness within yourself with a simple Breath Prayer.  Use this one or allow one to emerge as you breathe in and breathe out.  (I have found that six to eight syllables is best for breathing)

Breathe in ... Loving God (Name for God)
Breath out ... Fill me with Love (Your Desire)

Pray:  Loving God, I cannot truly comprehend the depth of your love for me and for all people.  Help me to feel your love in my heart and offer your love to other people in the world.   Amen.   

 
Read 1 John 4:11-21* and immerse yourself the beauty of Love as we find it in the text.  1 John is written to encourage a community that is divided.  Some have left the community and perhaps are now opposing this Christian community.  Engage in Lectio Divina, Praying with Scripture.  Allow yourself to be drawn deeply into God’s Presence as you read and pray and listen for the whispers of God.

Beloved, if God has loved us so, we must have the same love for one another.  No one has ever seen God.  Yet if we love one another, God dwells in us, and God’s love is brought to perfection in us.  The way we know that we remain in God and God in us is that we have been given the Spirit.  We have seen for ourselves and can testify that God has sent the Only Begotten as Savior of the World.  When any acknowledge that Jesus is the Only Begotten, God dwells in them and they in God.  We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.  God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God in them.  Love will come to perfection in us when we can face the day of judgment without fear – because our relation to this world is just like Christ’s.  There is no fear in love, for perfect love drives out fear.  To fear is to expect punishment, anyone who is afraid is still imperfect in love.  We love because God first loved us.  If you say you love God but hate your sister or brother, you are a liar.  For you cannot love God, whom you have not seen, if you hate your neighbor, whom you have seen.  If we love God, we should love our sisters and brothers as well; we have this commandment from God.

Read this passage again slowly.  Consider where God is calling your attention.   Reflect on just a word or phrase.  Spend time with your word or phrase and listen to the whispers of God through the words that have drawn you into the text ... Listen!    Take a walk on the Labyrinth or spend some time outside in nature.   Find a place to sit quietly.  Let the Spirit of God guide you.  Turn your word or phrase or image over and over in your mind.  Let God speak into your heart as you listen.  Take this time to "Release" anything that emerges and that you need to let go of in order to move on ...

As you pause at the center of the Labyrinth, take time to "Receive" and welcome God's word for you. Consider these questions or others that may arise in your time of pause:  Where is God speaking into my life through my word or phrase?  How is my life touched by my word or phrase? 

Before you begin your journey anew from the center, slowly Read the passage again.   Turn your attention to your word or phrase.  Know that it is ok if you are being drawn in a different direction on this reading!  Consider how you will Respond to what you have heard from God …

As you walk or move out of the center along the same labyrinth path you took in, know that you are gaining strength for your continuing journey of life.  How am I being called into deeper love relationships with others in my community or in the world?   How am I being called to Respond:  In word … prayer … action … or in some other way? 

As you reach the end of the Labyrinth pathway, it is time to Rest in the silence of God's Presence.  Allow God to draw you deeper into the shining light of God’s Holy Presence and into the relationship of love that God has with you.  Let all the words fade away and stay in this holy place as long as you can.  Simply BE with the God who loves you and whom you love.

Be aware that you may find a desire to express what you have received.  This is a wonderful time to journal, to write about your experience, thoughts, feelings, and insights.   Some persons find that God’s voice is clarified through the writing process.

Prayer:  O God help me welcome your love into my heart and my relationships with others.  Help me take your beauty, your mercy, your love and your justice out into my community and into the world.    In Christ, Amen. 

If you would like to linger a little longer in the Labyrinth spaces ... consider taking this link to The River's Voice Labyrinth Walk Song on their website and enjoy!  You can choose whether to listen to the song or simply enjoy the instrumental drumming.   May peace fill your soul as you listen ...

*Scripture/The Inclusive Bible:  The First Egalitarian Translation (by Priests for Equality) …