Wisdom shouts in the street; in the public square she raises her voice. Above the noisy
crowd, she calls out. At the entrances of the city gates, she has her say: “How long will you
clueless people love your naïveté, mockers hold their mocking dear, and fools hate
knowledge? You should respond when I correct you. Look, I’ll pour out my spirit on you. I’ll
reveal my words to you.” – Proverbs 1: 20-23

The Wisdom tradition within Christianity invites us to love knowledge, especially the
self-knowledge that comes from examining ourselves in relationship to the liberating Word of God.
Lectio divina (“divine reading”) is an ancient tradition of mixing the reading of scripture with prayer
and meditation. Rather than an analytical approach to the words of scripture, it is a way for the
words to simply be present and live in us. What will we hear when we let go of what it all is
“supposed to” mean and simply let it reside within us?

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. – Romans 8: 26-30; 38-39

Our sacred texts connect the breath of God with our own aliveness–God blew breath into us at creation and we continue to breathe all of creation in and out of our bodies constantly. The early church also believed that breath and Spirit were one in the same. How might the meditative practice of paying attention to our breath be, in and of itself, a prayer of connection to God? When we embrace our bodies as the holy vessel of God, we become even more our True Selves–which has been there all along.

…he went into a cave and spent the night… The Lord said, “Go out and stand at the
mountain before the Lord. The Lord is passing by.” A very strong wind tore through the
mountains and broke apart the stones before the Lord. But the Lord wasn’t in the wind. After
the wind, there was an earthquake. But the Lord wasn’t in the earthquake. After the
earthquake, there was a fire. But the Lord wasn’t in the fire. After the fire, there was a sound.
Thin. Quiet… – 1 Kings 19: 11-12

Sometimes we just need to get away in order to hear from that “still small voice” within.
This quiet voice is an attribute of the Holy Living God, as Elijah found out in a cave where
he expected to experience God in big wind and earthquake and fire. What is your “cave”
equivalent? What place (a park, a path, a rocking chair, a shoreline) and practice (walking,
journaling, reading, making art) helps you get quiet enough for long enough so you can
hear past the chaos and into the depths of your life?