Lectio of Belonging: Resting in the Voice of Love
by John Farrelly
There is a point in our spiritual journey when the call to shine gives way to the invitation to rest. When the outward movement of mission draws us back toward the inward rhythm of belonging.
The words of Psalm 100:3 whisper that invitation: “It is God who made us, and we are God’s.”
So much of life presses us toward proving, achieving, and doing. Even in faith, we can become caught in subtle striving — to serve well, to love enough, to live worthily of our calling. Yet before all of this, there is a simpler, deeper truth: we are made and held by Love itself.
This practice of Lectio of Belonging is a way of remembering. It draws us from the edges of effort back to the quiet centre where we are known. Here, we listen not for instruction but for recognition, the kind that echoes from before we were born.
Find a quiet place. Let your body settle, your breathing soften. You might wish to rest a hand over your heart, feeling the rhythm of your own being.
Then read the words aloud, slowly:
It is God who made us, and we are God’s.
Pause. Let the sound of them linger.
This is not a thought to analyze, but a truth to receive.
Read again, perhaps more gently:
It is God who made us, and we are God’s.
Allow the words to descend from the mind to the heart. Notice what stirs; perhaps gratitude, resistance, or an unexpected calm. Whatever arises is welcome.
As you breathe, imagine these words resting deep within you, until they no longer need to be spoken. You are not striving toward God; you are resting in God.
Stay here for a time, in the quiet knowing that precedes all words.
And when you return to the world, carry this truth with you like a hidden flame: belonging is not something earned; it is the light we already bear.
In this way, the practice becomes not only a prayer, but a way of living, a remembering that, in being God’s, we are also sent as light. We bring Love to the world not by effort, but by resting ever more deeply in the Love from which we come.
John Farrelly has been married to Mary for 40 years and is a dad and grandad. He is a Special Needs Assistant working with 5th- and 6th-grade children with autism. He is a spiritual director and coordinator of the Guided Prayer Centre at Knock Shrine in Ireland. He leads contemplative retreats and founded the Silence@Six online prayer community that gather each day for 30 minutes of silent prayer in The Online Meditation Chapel. He contributes regularly to Contemplative Outreach’s Word of the Week reflections and is just now birthing a new Substack called Living from The Quiet Heart.
