Reading as a Path to Presence

Spiritual reading trains our attention. It is not a task to complete but a way of remaining present to what matters most. When we read slowly and carefully, something within begins to respond. This kind of reading is not about gathering information. It is about letting ourselves be changed. Certain texts meet us where we are and quietly guide us further. They stay with us, not because of their novelty, but because of their depth. Each return reveals something new—not about the words, but about ourselves. The power of God’s words works as leaven in the heart, awakening us to a personal experience of the presence of God that Scripture reveals. This reading leads naturally into silence, where meaning settles beyond thought. What begins as reading matures into stillness. In that stillness, the presence we seek is already here.

May the words you read become leaven in your heart,
awakening you to the presence already within and all around.

(inspired by Guigo II, The Ladder of Monks; James Finley, Christian Meditation)