Scriptural Meditation - Take One

 

 Today was the first day of my offering of Scriptural Meditation to the church that I am serving as a student minister.  The meditation is sculpted around a Lectio Divina style reading of scripture, but like my mandala drawing, there is no real interaction with the people present.  The reflection and consideration of the scripture is supposed to be personal between you and God.  Our reading today was based on Psalm 1, but you can choose any short passage.  Here is the structure of the meditation as I walked participants through it. After we have gathered, welcomed each other, and lit the candle to symbolize welcoming God into our presence, the facilitator can begin.  Be sure to encourage everyone to find a comfortable position.  I personally sit cross legged on the floor, but I arranged some chairs also.

"Listen first to the reading .  Hear the word of our Lord.  After I finish reading it, we will pause for two minutes to reflect silently on what we have heard."  Read scripture of choice. Find a way to time two minutes so that even you are not interrupted.  I found a great Tibetian bowl timer as a free app on my phone. After the two minutes, read the following.

  

"Listen again to this reading.  What phrase or word is call to you.  Grab a hold of the phrase as I read the Psalm again.  Keep the word or phrase in your heart.  After I have finished, hold your word or phrase in your mind.  Let the word or phrase wash over you.  Mull on it.  Contemplate it.  Repeat it within your mind.  We will sit with our individual words or phrases for 5 minutes." Read the scripture again slowly and clearly. After the five minutes, take a deep breath and return.

"I am going to read this passage one more time.  You have heard the words.  You have found a word or phrase that is calling to you.  Now reflect on what God is saying to you.  These verses have been read by many, but the Spirit that is speaking through these words is speaking only to you.  Feel the words as I speak them again.  Feel God within you, moving you.  Hear the message you are meant to hear within these words.  Sit with this feeling for the next 12 minutes.  Let the Holy Spirit guide your thoughts." Read the scripture again.  Time 12 minutes. 

  

"Slowly finish your thoughts.  Bring your mind back to the present.  Let your body feel the ground below you.  Hold on to  your thoughts on this scripture.  While our time to meditate together is ending, you should carry this time, these thoughts, God’s words with you throughout the day.  Let the mediation of God’s words never be far from you."  Remind people that part of a spiritual practice is exactly that "practice".  It may have been very difficult to be still that long or keep focus.  They may not have "felt God" over the ache in their hip.  Encourage them though to continue with this practice multiple times before judging it.  Close together.

"Let’s take three full breaths together and then together, 'Thank God for being with me today.  Amen'"

I hope you will try this practice, if not with a group then within the quite time of your life.   We do a lot of talking to God, rarely are we quiet enough to listen to His response.

"My whole lifetime is but a moment to You."  

                                                                                               --- Psalm 39

Don't look at life as a whole but as a compilation of moments.  Each day is a chance. Each moment an option. The summary of the whole comes after we are gone and others are looking back. For us each moment brings another chance to breathe in God's wonder or turn our backs.  What are you choosing right now?

Mandala Meditation - Psalm 36

"For You are the Fountain of life; our light is from Your light." 

                                                                                           Psalm 36:9 (Tyndale)                  

      When I create these mandalas, within the context of my Lectio Divina practice, sometimes I am as amazed as anyone else about what is created.  This picture started with the center circle with three lines and lights coming from that.  Each light led to two more from there.  When I looked back though what I saw was not the spreading of the light, but the flower that had blossomed in the middle.

What verse in Psalm 36 touched you?  Did you create something from it?  Please share.  I'd love to see it.

Mandala Meditation - Thankfulness in all things

 "O Lord, my God, 

I will keep on thanking you forever."

-Psalm 30:12b

This is so easy in our joy, but so hard in our sorrow.  How can we recognize His gift in a death, a famine, a hardship, a debilitating injury, an abuse perpetrated on us?  How difficult to make out the footprints by your side or the enduring strength holding you up or the extra tears streaming with yours. How difficult to be thankful in pain.

What is Evil?

Today, I used Psalms 7 as my scripture for meditation.  There are many interesting phrases in this scripture, but I was caught in Psalms 7:3 "It would be different Lord, if I were doing evil things."  I think I became transfixed on this phrase because of the work that I am doing in Christian Ethics about oppression.  For class we watched, Romero:



In watching this,  I had to ask who was evil? Was it just the soldiers? Just the government? Or was it also Romero himself when he begrudgingly walked alongside the El Salvadorian people in the beginning as they walked to the polls?  Was it the mother who asked Romero to baptize her son separately?

It is so easy to be sure that we don't lie, cheat, and steal.  It is much harder to separate ourselves from oppressive systems that surround us all.  Perhaps, we don't offer health insurance to our employees.  Perhaps, we don't pay our full share into taxes and therefore put a strain on the support systems for others in need.  Perhaps, we choose not to vote and let the status quo continue.  Perhaps you buy the less expensive items at a store that encourage child labor or not paying a living wage to those in need. What is evil?  What is sin?

This is the mandala that I created as I pondered this question.

  How do you think you may add or assist in the oppression of others?  What steps can you take to not continue this action?

Using Mandalas in your Lectio Divina Practice

I have found mandalas to be helpful in accessing scripture.  The drawing of the mandala helps me to be more open to the scripture's message and helps me to connect on a deeper level with the message and the words.

Lectio Divina is a process to internalize scripture.  There are a couple different ways to do it, but basically it entails reading the passage multiple times.  Between each reading, you are to focus on a piece of the passage that speaks to you and then connect it with something currently in your life.  I have been twisting its use by:

1.  Read a passage.  I have been focusing on the Psalms.

2. Find a section that speaks to me.

3.  Reread the passage.

4.  Begin the drawing of my mandala. (note: my mandalas are not as structured as this.  I begin only with the circle and a center.  And sometimes even the center is optional)

5. Read the passage again.

6. Write a short passage myself about how the scripture, the particular verse, and my drawing relate to me.

In, Go and Do Likewise: Jesus and Ethics by William C. Spohn,  Spohn writes, "The ancient practice of mediation read the text for transformation, not information.  The sacred texts of every tradition have to be read with a listening heart, not at 350 words per minute.  The early monks would hear the scripture read in common and commit phrases to memory so they could continue to be nourished by it in solitude." (pg 137)

I encourage you to try this practice, whether you draw or not.  Lectio Divina is a totally different way to read scripture than I had ever been taught.  While I would not use this as the only way to read scripture it is a usefull tool to deepen your understanding and to become active in your Bible studies.

Mandala - Another to consider

Here is another mandala that I have created:

I want to share with you the power of drawing mandalas.  This mandala was created with the intention of thinking about my upcoming Discernment Meeting with the Central Association of the United Church of Christ.  This meeting is the step toward becoming an ordained minister or a road block depending on its outcome.  Clearly one might bring a lot of tension into such a meeting. So when I went to the mandala workshop held by fellow seminarian, Kelly Beard, I used this meeting as the intent for my drawing.

You cannot clearly see in this drawing, but the drawing began with a lot of chaos and movement.  Eventually, the flower grew out of the middle and the chaos receded.  You will notice if you look carefully that my take away from this was that I was enough.  The flower I felt represented me and my gifts.  To me this was a messages that if I went into the meeting with the talents and skills that God had gifted me with then I was ok.  I was surprised by this result when it first emerged, but even more surprised when it emerged just before I entered the meeting.

On the day of my Discernment Meeting, I was sitting on the deacons' bench waiting to be called in.  I decided to take a minute to pray and center myself.  As I closed my eyes and began to pray to God to give me the words so that I could properly articulate my calling to these people who needed to open the next gate so that I could follow, a picture blossomed in my head.  I saw that flower bloom right before me.  God sent me a picture message reminding me that I was enough.  If I went in just as myself, I would be ok.

I have continued to draw several mandalas as part of my spiritual practice time now and over the next few weeks, I will share some of what I have created.

My Mandala

I got the blessing of attending a mandala making workshop week.  This is the very first mandala that I have ever made.  I hope that you may enjoy it.

Coloring Mandalas

I have found that the idea of mandalas had been circling my soul.  What I mean by that is that I had never heard of them and then suddenly they seemed to be incorporated everywhere around me: on the news, in fiction books I was reading,  in my seminary work, in conversation.  I decided that I should learn more.  Thus, I found Meditating with Mandalas: 52 New Mandalas to Help You Grow in Peace and Awareness.

and I began my practice.  I am not by any means an expert at meditating or mandalas.  I am a seeker looking to find ways to become closer with God. 

I carved out 15 minutes extra a day.  Yes,  that meant that I had to get up earlier, and if you know me, you know that giving up my sleep was a big sacrifice.  And went into a different quiet room (My husband has a tendency to turn the tv on when he gets up.  I do not find this conducive to meditating at all.  Frankly, I even find it disruptive in the other room.).  I have a blanket set up on the floor to raise my butt and make it easier for me to sit cross-legged.  I place the book on a stool so that it is at my eye line.  And for 15 minutes I focus on the mandala.  I close by reading the segment explaining the mandala.  I don't do this first so that I see what the mandala may erupt in me as opposed to recognizing what it is "supposed to say".

For those of you, who like me,  may question the "Christian-ness" of such a practice.  I have to say that I have found it to be what you make of it.  I enter my meditation time which I would liken to prayer for me with God in my heart.  I focus on the mandala asking God to speak to me through it to raise issues that I need to address.  Sometimes I find the mandalas help me think about who I think God is more.  Sometimes, they reflect more about me, who I am, and where I need to go.   Also,  Mandalas do have a history in Christianity which I will explore on another day.

The only problem that I have not yet resolved with this practice is time.  I find myself too worried about it.  As the 15 minutes early implies in 15 minutes I have to start getting ready for work, my mind is too focused on not going over time.  I look forward to continuing this practice and somehow fully accepting my God time without parameters.

I will continue to give you a few more thought on meditating with mandalas over the next few weeks - like its Christian roots, a breathing mantra I find helpful, some ideas about designing one yourself.  As always,  I would love to hear any insights that you have found.  If you don't use mandalas as a prayer practice now, I encourage you to experiment and see if you may find it useful. 

Meditating with Mandalas

I have found that the idea of mandalas had been circling my soul.  What I mean by that is that I had never heard of them and then suddenly they seemed to be incorporated everywhere around me: on the news, in fiction books I was reading,  in my seminary work, in conversation.  I decided that I should learn more.  Thus, I found Meditating with Mandalas: 52 New Mandalas to Help You Grow in Peace and Awareness.

and I began my practice.  I am not by any means an expert at meditating or mandalas.  I am a seeker looking to find ways to become closer with God. 

I carved out 15 minutes extra a day.  Yes,  that meant that I had to get up earlier, and if you know me, you know that giving up my sleep was a big sacrifice.  And went into a different quiet room (My husband has a tendency to turn the tv on when he gets up.  I do not find this conducive to meditating at all.  Frankly, I even find it disruptive in the other room.).  I have a blanket set up on the floor to raise my butt and make it easier for me to sit cross-legged.  I place the book on a stool so that it is at my eye line.  And for 15 minutes I focus on the mandala.  I close by reading the segment explaining the mandala.  I don't do this first so that I see what the mandala may erupt in me as opposed to recognizing what it is "supposed to say".

For those of you, who like me,  may question the "Christian-ness" of such a practice.  I have to say that I have found it to be what you make of it.  I enter my meditation time which I would liken to prayer for me with God in my heart.  I focus on the mandala asking God to speak to me through it to raise issues that I need to address.  Sometimes I find the mandalas help me think about who I think God is more.  Sometimes, they reflect more about me, who I am, and where I need to go.   Also,  Mandalas do have a history in Christianity which I will explore on another day.

The only problem that I have not yet resolved with this practice is time.  I find myself too worried about it.  As the 15 minutes early implies in 15 minutes I have to start getting ready for work, my mind is too focused on not going over time.  I look forward to continuing this practice and somehow fully accepting my God time without parameters.

I will continue to give you a few more thought on meditating with mandalas over the next few weeks - like its Christian roots, a breathing mantra I find helpful, some ideas about designing one yourself.  As always,  I would love to hear any insights that you have found.  If you don't use mandalas as a prayer practice now, I encourage you to experiment and see if you may find it useful. 

Mandalas - A way to pray

I have taken to meditating with mandalas as a way for me to connect with God.  Over the next week or so I would like to share with you a little about mandalas, what they were originally intended, how they can be used today, and why I have found them helpful.  As a way to start our conversation, I hope that you might watch this short time-lapse video of an actual sand art mandala being created.

Devotionals - a great way to touch base with God daily

Most of us that are seeking a connection with God already incorporate prayer in our daily lives, but there are other ways to improve your conversation with God.  I consider my time with God to be like fostering a friendship.  God is around for everyone, just like people you pass in your everyday life.  It is up to you to start a conversation and get to know Him better.  Most people start this greeting in prayer.  Some add a weekly time set aside for growing this relationship; we call this time worship.  But there are so many other ways to foster this relationship (I will be exploring several over the next months with you).  Today, I'd like to introduce to devotionals.  Devotionals can be religious or not, but they are generally daily readings that focus on a particular topic for you to ruminate on during the day.  The daily readings are usually short and can be read in less than 10 minutes, but are usually rich enough to offer a much longer contemplation time.

I have used Upper Room devotionals for several years as they are available at my church, but you can also access them online or even have daily thoughts emailed directly to your in box.  Recently I have actually been using Tough Minded Faith for Tender Hearted People by Dr. Robert H Schuller.  Yes, this is the Robert Schuller of Crystal Cathedral Ministries.  And I must admit that his name alone made me question this as a choice, but as this book came to me and I did not search it out, I thought that I would give it a try.  I must admit that I'm glad I did.  This is a wonderful devotional.  It is uplifting, scripturally based, and honest.  I would recommend it for those of you that are Christian and looking for a devotional to try this practice.

Do you use a devotional?  What devotional might you recommend?  How have you found using a devotional helpful in your spiritual practices?  If you don't currently use a devotional, how about committing to trying it for a week or a month and see if you find this a helpful way to grow your relationship with God.