This week the days got away from me — the morning quiet crowded out, the prayer rushed, the stillness harder to find than I’d like to admit. So on this Friday morning I did what I always do: I sat down, I settled in, and I let the words of Isaiah 43 do what they’ve always done. Meet me exactly where I am. This is a Lectio Divina meditation — a practice of sacred, slow reading that invites you not just to absorb words but to let them land in you. We read the passage twice, letting a phrase rise up, letting something stir. Isaiah 43 is about release — of old losses, old victories, the story you’ve told yourself so long it’s become a kind of cage. And it’s about the new thing: already moving, already pushing upward like a seed through winter-hardened ground. Not asked. Not announced. Simply becoming. A sleepy Shih Tzu makes a brief appearance. So do 11 birds — house sparrow, northern cardinal, American crow, red-winged blackbird, northern mockingbird, fish crow, mourning dove, Carolina wren, American robin, song sparrow, and common grackle — singing in the background the whole time, waiting to be noticed. That’s really what this is about. Paying attention. Staying awake. Watching for what God is already doing in the wilderness of your unresolved grief, the desert of your depleted hope. This meditation is free for everyone today — a gift for a Friday. If it found you at the right moment, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Every Friday I record something like this — a meditation, a reflection, a slower and quieter kind of companionship for the contemplative path. Your support makes it possible to keep showing up here, week after week, with something worth sitting still for. And if paid isn’t where you are right now, sharing this with someone who needs a moment of quiet today is its own kind of gift. Happy Friday. The birds are singing. The new thing is already moving. The Contemplative Path is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit contemplativepath.substack.com/subscribe
