Lectio Divina: Epiphany 4

Jeremiah 1:4-10; Luke 4:21-32; I Corinthians 14:12-20
"Yahweh put out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me: ‘There! I am putting my words into your mouth.’" (Jer 1:9, The Jerusalem Bible)

Meditation.
In my head there is a list of words,
words I use when I want to talk
but don't know what to say
or exactly how to say it:
blood, broken glass, mirrors, crows, Saturn, fog . . . .
Oh, the list is fairly long,
but does not go on forever.
If, for some perverse reason you wanted to,
you could memorize these words.
There is another list of words,
so long it spirals through galaxies
and spins back in orbit
around this fragile heart of mine.
For there is a Spirit that sits in my heart,
and she draws on these words.
She finds new words,
she plays with them in new ways.
She teaches me the hidden metaphor
of the fire burning within each word.

Prayer.
Blessed are you, Divine Poet,
you who stir me in the early watches
to teach me new metres, new rhythm,
indeed — a whole new poetics.
Blessed are you, who dwell
as near as my heart,
yet also may be found from
the rustling water to the smokey city.
Blessed are you, for dwelling in each heart,
for silently teaching each New Ways,
for leading us to seek your poetry
in each sacred moment.

Contemplation.
I may be wrong. The Divine Spark may not dwell in your heart, but I believe it dwells somewhere within you. The Divine Spark doesn't care if you call it "God" or "Krishna" or "Allah" or simply "Inspiration". Indeed, the Divine Spark isn't worried which pronoun you use when you honor it. If you seek this spark, if you you are merely curious whether it might be there, be silent and breath deep. Your breath, drawn slowly through the intimate chambers of your body, will ignite that spark. Be certain: that Divine Spark is close at hand, but also dwells in the infinite.