Meditation
Meditation—listening for God’s voice in a variety of ways and responding to what is heard.
“We consider becoming God’s friend the only thing truly worthwhile.”
St. Gregory of Nyssa
“To pray is to
descend with the mind
into the heart,
and there to stand
before the face of the Lord,
ever-present,
all-seeing,
within
you.”
Theophan the Recluse
St. Ignatius of Loyola said, “Anything turned toward God is prayer.” And so in the spiritual practice of meditation, as we turn our hearts and minds toward God, as we think on and ponder creation, as we take our love for Jesus to whatever we are reading, as we sit in silence and rest in God’s embrace, we commune with the Living God, we pray.
Meditation requires that we step out of busyness and noise that so often defines our hours and days and move into the quiet that resides in the center of our being, that place where our heart and God’s heart meet. That may sound very mystical, but it really isn’t. By stopping, stilling ourselves, and turning toward God, we find ourselves in the burning center of a moment, in contemplation, in meditation, with Jesus. When we pay attention to what God is doing in us and around us, through scripture, people, events, creation we are looking at what is real and true and we are meditating. It can happen in the space of a moment as we pause to notice the fiery sunset or the fear in someone’s eye. Or it will take place at a scheduled time at the table as we chew on a passage of scripture or in a chair as we sit in quiet and stop the flow of words and thoughts and let the silence of God move in us and fill us with his Spirit.
Christian meditation differs from Eastern Meditation in many ways. In the Eastern form the purpose often is to self-empty, relax and find a sense of wellness, in the Christian tradition, while those same benefits may result, the purpose of meditation is always to turn toward God, to listen for his voice and then respond. Both invite detachment, but in Christian meditation, the detachment from the things that consume, is to make possible an attachment to Jesus.
In Christian meditation we listen for God’s voice and then respond obediently to his word. The purpose of meditation is to grow in intimacy with God, to be transformed by the Spirit into a friend of God who is comfortable walking with him moment–by-moment throughout the day.
There are different ways to meditate. Foster offers four:
Meditate on scripture. This is not study, but a time set aside to let the word of God become personal and internalized. Looking at one passage, read it and sink down into it. Be in the place and use all of your senses to experience it, to be an active participant in the story. See the crowds, listen to the rumble of the voices, smell the fish, feel the broken crusts of bread in your hands. Listen for an invitation from the Spirit.[HM1]
Another way to meditate on scripture is to use the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, (literally, divine or sacred reading), a staple of Christian devotion for over 1500 years. Because most were illiterate and few books were available, early Christians read by being read to. Monastics would spend up to 6 hours a day listening to, memorizing, repeating and meditating on scripture. It was the way the Spirit spoke to the heart of each listener as they learned to “incline the ear of the heart.” This method of reading was based on the belief that what was being read, the Holy Scriptures, was divine. So was the method. The Spirit used this practice to form the person who came to the Lectio with an open heart. [HM2]
Lectio Divina for Individual Use
1. Centering/relaxation exercise: sit comfortably, breathe deeply, relax body, acknowledge and release distractions, invite God’s presence.
2. Read the passage (1 or 2 times in an unhurried way, the second time more slowly). Stop when a word or phrase stops you, becomes vibrant or attracts you. Is there a word or image that impresses you? Repeat this word or phrase to yourself. Bring your senses to the text. Allow for 1-2 minutes of silence. .
3. Read the passage again. Listen to discover how this passage touches your life today. Attend to the feeling or image in you that is attached to the word or phrase you have spoken. What does it mean? What is God trying to say? What am I feeling? Do not try to force a meaning. Stay open. This is a time of reflection, involving thinking, feeling, and/or intuition. Allow for 1-2 minutes of silence or more as it seems helpful.
4. Read the passage once more. Listen to discover the invitation. What is God calling me to do or be today or this week? Be aware of resistance. Open your heart and will to the action that may be called for. Allow for 2-3 or more minutes of silence and then speak to God your response.
5. Share and pray. Take time to express what you have heard from God. If you have an extended time, journal impressions, or words, or a prayer that expresses your response to God.
- Re-collection or Centering Down. This is a time to become still and to sink into refreshing silence. To help you get to that place of stillness, Foster suggests this helpful act of meditation called palms down, palms up. Place palms down to symbolize your intention of turning over everything that weighs heavy on you over to God. Imagine or name all that you are letting go. Feel the relinquishment. Now, turn palms up to symbolize the desire and willingness to receive what ever God has for you. Remain in silence and just be with the God who loves you.
- Meditate on creation. God can be known through his creation. Go outside and walk and notice the created beauty that abounds. Look closely, notice God’s amazing design and the intricacy of all that is created. Soak in the beauty and allow it to speak to you.[HM3]
- Meditate on the events of the world. Pray with the newspaper in one hand and a Bible in the other. Hold the events of our time before God and ask to know how to respond as his people in this confusing place.
Meditation Resources:
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- Foster, Richard. Celebration of Discipline: Chapter 2, Meditation.
- Laubach, Frank. Letters of a Modern Mystic.
- Laubach, Frank. Frank Laubach’s Prayer Diary.
- Kelly, Thomas. A Testament of Devotion. New York: Harper &Row, 1941.
- Brother Lawrence. Practicing the Presence of God. Trans. Robert J. Edmondson. Orleans, Mass.: Paraclete Press, 1985.
- Thompson, Marjorie J. Soul Feast: an invitation to the Christian Spiritual life: chapter 2, Chewing the Bread of the Word, the nature and practice of spiritual reading.
- www.praythenews.com